Finding the New Normal
by AvianJen
Summary: SEASON 2 SPOILERS! There's a month between closing the gate and the Snow Ball. What happens during that month, and what happens after? Hopper wants nothing more than to give El a normal life, but what does normal mean for a telekinetic teenage girl who never had a real childhood?
1. Going Home

"You did good, kid. You did so good." Hopper could barely keep his voice from cracking as he held the young girl he'd come to love in his arms. She couldn't speak. Her nosebleed was out of control this time and her body was completely limp. Hopper held her as tightly as he could, amazed at her. Eleven was incredible, and Jim Hopper never could have predicted a girl like her falling into his life the way she had. But here she was, and he was never going to lose her. That black hole wasn't going to take her like it had taken Sara. El was his second chance…and maybe it wasn't so crazy to think that he was hers.

Jim picked up the girl and cradled her in his arms, walking out of the lab. She was drifting in and out of consciousness and he didn't pressure her to speak. He knew that she would be okay, she just needed rest. A lot of it. Gingerly, he laid El in the back seat of his truck and went back in for Dr. Owens. Normally, Hopper would have called someone else to take care of it and focused on getting his girl home and in bed so that she could recover, but this was a special scenario. Owens had the power to change El's life- that is, give her a normal one. Hopper needed that to happen, so he would go the extra mile for the doctor just this once.

After dropping Dr. Owens off at the hospital, though, Hopper drove back to the cabin in the woods. He'd thought about taking her back to the Byers' place, but he knew those kids wouldn't give poor El any air. He wasn't going to keep her apart from her friends anymore; he'd learned his lesson, so hopefully Mike Wheeler wouldn't kill him for not bringing her back to socialize right away.

Joyce Byers opened the front door, having seen Hopper approach from afar carrying El. "It's closed," he announced, stepping inside. Glancing up, he saw Will and Jonathan huddled together on the couch, Nancy Wheeler hunched over on a chair nearby with her head resting in her hands. Will looked even worse than Eleven, but he was alive. Joyce looked lhaunted, but she was okay too. Hopper felt tension release in his chest; they had lost Bob Newby tonight, that was true. But everyone else had made it out alive, and now it was finally over.

"Hopper, is she okay?" Joyce asked in a panicky voice, hovering over El. "El, sweetheart, can you hear me?"

"Damnit Joyce, leave her alone," Hopper said gruffly. Then catching his tone, he let out a sigh. "I'm…I'm sorry. Yes, she's alright. Just exhausted." He took her to her room and laid her down on her bed, gently taking off her white tennis shoes and setting them next to the bed before covering her up. Leaving for a moment, he returned with a warm damp cloth that he dabbed under her nose, cleaning up the crusted blood that had accumulated there. She wouldn't wake until morning, and that was okay. But Hopper already knew he wasn't going to sleep a wink tonight.

"Jim." He glanced up and saw Joyce standing in the doorway, a small smile on her face as she watched the two of them. "We're going to take Will home." The police chief nodded. Placing his hand on El's slicked back hair, he leaned forward to press a scratchy kiss to her forehead before standing and joining everyone else in the living room. He left El's door open, just in case she needed him.

Will was standing now, with Jonathan's arm wrapped around him for support. The teenager's other hand was taken by Nancy, whose hair hung limp around her shoulders as if she'd just showered. Now that he was looking, he noticed that everyone appeared to be soaked with sweat. Damn.

"Alright," he said. He looked seriously at Joyce, furrowing his brows together and studying her face. "You gonna be okay?" Joyce grimaced, but she managed a nod.

"My boy's back," she told him with a pained smile. "Will's back. We're…" she glanced back at her family and Nancy, "we're going to be okay."

"Hey." Hopper reached forward to put his hand on Joyce's shoulder. "You need anything, you call me. Understand?" Joyce nodded and rubbed her eyes, obviously trying not to tear up too much. Hopper looked to Nancy next.

"When you see him, you can tell your brother he can see El _tomorrow._ That's if she's feeling better. But I'll _call,_ I don't want him coming over here at four in the goddamn morning." Nancy nodded. She knew that Mike would want to see El right away- he wasn't very patient and he was already furious with the chief for keeping El from him for so long, but she'd do her best to keep him under control.

"Alright, good." He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked at Will last. The poor kid had been through hell and back these past couple days, and Hopper didn't have the words to comfort him. His family would have to do that. They all had a good bit of healing to do, and Hopper couldn't imagine what was to come. But the Mind Flayer was gone, Will and El were safe, and the gate to the Upside Down was finally closed. His town was safe again. "Okay, champ. Go home and get some rest, okay?" Will nodded. He looked like he was about to pass out, but he had just enough strength to lean over just slightly, looking past Hopper into El's room.

"That's Eleven?" he asked hoarsely. He'd heard so much about her, but they'd never met. She was like a mythological creature to him, a legend, but now…there she was. Hopper followed his line of sight and huffed, a tiny smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

"Yeah, that's her. And when you're feeling better you can see her, too. Sound good?" Will nodded.

"Tell her…thank you." Will could hardly speak, but he forced out the words anyways. Hopper nodded solemnly.

"I sure will, kid."

* * *

 **Thank you for reading! This is my first fanfic in like...two years, but I still have so many feelings about S2 that I just had to write about! I don't know what this story will be- could just be lots of oneshots or maybe an actual story will unfold. No clue, but stay tuned and feel free to leave suggestions in reviews or PM's! I love chatting :)**


	2. A New Compromise

Eleven slept until noon the next morning, and when she finally awoke she felt like she'd been run over by a truck. Groaning, she rolled over in bed and reached up to run a hand through her hair. It felt like wire sprouting out of her head. Groaning again, El reached up to rub her eyes, her hands coming away smudged with black makeup. In the next room Hopper had never fallen asleep, and at the first sign of her stirring he rushed to El's room.

"Hey." He knelt at the side of her bed and reached for her hand. "How you feeling, kiddo?"

"Bad," came her reply. Hopper had to chuckle; he was so happy to see that she was okay, but the punk outfit mixed with her obvious discomfort made her look like she'd been out partying all night and was experiencing her first hangover. That wasn't his girl, though- no, she'd just saved the world, and he couldn't be prouder.

"Okay, okay. Well why don't we get you a shower so you can wash all that crap out of your hair, and I'll get breakfast ready? Or lunch, really. You've slept for half the day."

"Eggos?" El murmured hopefully.

"Well, real food first," Hopper replied. He wanted to give her all the Eggos she could eat, but she needed something with substance first. "But then yes, Eggos." She gave him a smile that tugged at the man's heart, warming him from the inside out.

It was slow-going, but eventually El managed to pull herself out of bed, pick out some more comfortable clothes, and get herself into the shower. It took several long minutes to wash all the product out of her hair and scrub all the city grime off of her body, but it was worth it. The shower was truly magical, and when she finally got out she was feeling much better. And just as promised, Hopper had a plate of bacon and eggs and a huge glass of orange juice waiting for her. Even though he'd already eaten, the police chief sat down with her holding a cup of coffee and a piece of toast, nibbling at it absentmindedly.

"So…" he said, watching her as she dug into her food. It was like she hadn't eaten in days. "We did it, kid." He smiled at her, reaching forward to ruffle her damp mop of curls. El smiled back at him.

"Yes," she said. She was still tired, but she was okay. "How is Will?"

"I haven't seen him today, but Mrs. Byers seemed to think he'd be alright. He wanted me to say thank you, and he'd like to meet you when you're feeling up to it." El nodded, brown curls bouncing as she took a few more bites of food.

"I feel up to it," she replied.

"Also…" Hopper stood and leaned over to the landline phone, pushing a button.

"Hopper, please pick up, I just want to know if she's okay! Pick up you son of a bitch, pick-" Another press of a button and Mike Wheeler's voice disappeared. El stared at the phone with wide eyes.

"Mike," she said. She'd know that voice anywhere.

"Yes, Mike," Hopper confirmed. "No clue how he got this number but he's called eight times this morning. Seems pretty damn worried about you so if you'd like I can bring you over to the Byers' and you can see your friends. But _only_ if you're feeling better."

El didn't have to say anything for him to know her answer. Her face lit up with a smile at the prospect of seeing her friends; _actually_ seeing her friends, without worrying about any Demogorgon or Mind Flayer. It was only what she'd been begging for every day for the past year.

"I feel better," she assured him, inhaling the rest of her food and gulping down the orange juice. Before Hopper could say anything, El was running back to her bedroom. She returned with her jacket, white shoes, and a couple of sparkly barrettes in her hair that held the curls out of her face. "Ready," she announced.

Hopper looked at her, an expression of endearment on his face. He was too old for this, but she was so damn precious. "What, you don't want your Eggos?"

"Mike has Eggos," El replied without missing a beat.

"We're not going to Mike's, we're going to Will's," Hopper clarified. "Which reminds me." He bent down to her level, looking into her eyes like he always did when he was serious. "You are not, under any circumstances, to go to the Wheeler's house, do you understand?"

That caused El to panic a little bit. She wasn't allowed to see Mike? "No, I don't understand! I have to see him! You can't keep me here again!" she exclaimed.

"Whoa, kid, calm down," Hopper said, keeping his voice low. "You can see Mike all you want, just not at _his_ house. Not yet. His parents don't know who you are, and we don't have a story yet." El settled, but was still perplexed.

"A…story?"

"That's right. And we'll work on that later, but if Mike's parents find out who you are they'll hand you over to bad men, alright? So I need you to promise." El gritted her teeth in irritation. She was tired of him placing all these limits on her, telling her what she couldn't do and where she couldn't go. He'd protected her, but the cost had been so great. El wasn't convinced it was always worth it.

"I want to see Mike," she said. The intensity of her glare sent shivers down Hopper's spine, but he tried not to let it show. She was a telekinetic teenage girl, and he was pretty sure they could smell fear.

"You'll see Mike. Today. And that's a promise, but I need you to promise me, too. If I let you see your friends I need you to do this for me. I want you to see them, but I also want you to be safe. This is a...compromise. Do you remember what that means?" El stuffed her hands in her pockets and stared at her feet.

"Halfway happy," she muttered. Finally she relented. "I promise." Satisfied, Hopper nodded and stood upright again. El was good with her promises, and when she used that word he knew that he could trust her.

"Good. I'll call Joyce to let her know we're coming, and then we'll head over, okay?" El wanted to leave immediately but she nodded, lingering by the door while Hopper made his phone call.

"Yeah, Joyce, is that okay? I just don't want all the kids coming all the way out here by themselves, and El can't go to the other kids' houses…alright. Okay, okay. Thanks, I owe you one." He hung up and picked up the keys to his truck, jingling them in El's direction. "We got the green light. Let's go, kiddo."

El's face broke into a huge smile and she bolted out the door, running towards the car and jumping in the passenger seat. Hopper was dead tired and could barely keep up, but that smile on her face gave him energy. It gave him a purpose. She was bouncing with excitement as they drove up to the Byers' house and as Hopper had predicted, all of her friends were on the porch ready to meet her when they arrived. Joyce had explained that Will was still exhausted and might not be up for a whole lot, but Lucas, Dustin, and even Max were there. Mike Wheeler couldn't even wait for the truck to stop before he ran to the passenger side, beaming with joy.

"El! El, you're okay!" Eleven clumsily opened the door and practically fell into Mike's arms, squeezing him tight. He was taller, something she'd noticed right away, but his hugs still felt the same. He still smelled the same.

"Mike," El managed, happy tears welling up in her eyes. Last night their reunion had been too short- the second she'd gotten there they'd had to jump into action again, but now she could hug him as long as she wanted to. Well, maybe not quite. That would be forever.

"El, I'm so proud of you," Mike said, pulling back just enough so that he could look into her eyes. God, he'd missed those brown eyes so much. He leaned his forehead against hers and ran his fingertips through the ends of her wild hair, not caring that everyone could see. He'd been lost without her, thinking that she was gone for an entire year. But now she was here in front of him, and he was never letting her go again. "I'm _so_ proud of you," he repeated. "You saved us. You kept your promise."

El smiled, gazing up at him. "You won't lose me again," she said. "Ever." She hugged him again and fought back the tears.

* * *

"Are they…?" Max looked to Dustin and Lucas for answers as Mike and Eleven continued to embrace. Max wasn't sure why she'd even come, but Lucas had insisted that she give El another chance...so here she was. It had taken her more than one interaction with the boys to realize that they were the best friends she could ever ask for, and since meeting them she'd learned a lot about judging others prematurely. Eleven's treatment of her last night hadn't been super encouraging, but she'd give it one more shot.

"They were always the closest," Lucas explained. "When we found her in the woods she stayed at Mike's house, and he was always the one defending her. He hasn't been the same since she disappeared."

A couple minutes later, Mike and Eleven finally decided to join everyone else. Hand in hand they stepped onto the porch, El letting go only to give Joyce a hug as well.

"Thank you so much, sweetheart, for everything," Joyce said, squeezing the girl tight and pushing her curls off her forehead to kiss her. "You're so, so brave."

"Will?" she asked.

"He's doing fine. He's sleeping right now, but he's very anxious to meet you, finally." El gave a little smile and pulled away.

"Me, too."

Hopper lit up a cigarette and stepped inside with Joyce to check up on will, but the kids stayed outside a few minutes longer.

She hugged Dustin and Lucas next, and both of the boys expressed again how happy they were to have her back. It was surreal; after a year of thinking she was dead or that the Demogorgon had taken her, here she was.

"Our hair matches," Dustin said, giving her a toothy grin. El giggled in response, reaching up to mess up his hair the way Hopper did hers. Dustin returned the gesture and El ducked, laughing again and pushing him playfully.

"Hey, El?" Lucas took Max's hand and gently invited her closer. "This is our new friend Max. I know you didn't really get properly introduced last night, but she's super cool. She just moved here and has been helping us out a lot with…everything." After being so obviously snubbed last night Max was a little hesitant, but she was here, so it was worth a shot. She offered El a smile and extended her hand again.

Eleven still looked suspicious. She didn't know what to think about this girl- this was who she'd seen at school, riding around on her little wheeled table and smiling at Mike. Trying to impress him. And she had that pretty long hair El had always wanted. It wasn't exactly reassuring to find that she was now a part of the group. It had made her so sad, and again El felt that uncomfortable, twisty feeling in her stomach and the ache in her chest. She glanced back at Mike and reached for his hand instead of shaking Max's, wanting to make their relationship very clear.

She wasn't sure what the technical term for their relationship was, but she did know that Mike didn't need another girl to kiss or hold hands with. Even if she was pretty.

"I saw you," El said finally as Max lowered her hand, realizing that she still wasn't going to shake it. "At school." The boys looked to each other in confusion.

"When…when were you at school, El?" Mike asked finally.

"Couple days ago." El was looking at Max, still. "In the gym. Going in circles." Max's eyes widened as she began to understand.

"The day we were looking for Dart! I was trying to convince Mike to let me be your zoomer, you know, in the Party. And then I…fell off my board." She looked to El in amazement as it all came together. "That was you?"

"I knew it!" Mike exclaimed, ecstatic. Even though he hadn't seen her, it was exciting to know that he wasn't as crazy as he'd thought. "I knew it was you! I ran out to try and find you, but you were gone. Why did you leave, why didn't you…" Just as suddenly, Mike was confused and hurt all over again. Why had she left? He couldn't imagine how differently things would have gone if she'd been there then. They could have stopped the Mind Flayer that much sooner, and…well, he would have known that she was okay.

"Too dangerous," El told him, looking down at their joined hands. "I'm sorry." Mike didn't know what to think about that, but he didn't blame her. He could never blame her for anything, and as much as it sucked he knew that the time for focusing on the past was over. The important part was that she was here now.

"So, is that why you don't like me?" Max asked, putting the pieces together. "You thought I…liked Mike?" There didn't seem to be a clear understanding of what Mike and Eleven's relationship was, but nobody hugged like that, held hands like that, or underwent a complete shift in personality the way Mike apparently had when love wasn't a factor. Max wasn't blind, and Eleven's nod confirmed her suspicions.

"Well you don't need to worry about that," Max reassured her, relieved that was all it was. "All Mike ever did was talk about how great you were. He never wanted me in the group."

"It's true," the three boys confirmed in unison. He'd been a real jerk, but thankfully it was something they could all laugh about now. Mike squeezed El's hand comfortingly, his heart fluttering when she looked up at him with those big brown eyes again. El was simultaneously the most innocent and most badass person he'd ever known, and he was still discovering how that could be.

"Don't worry about it," he told her. "Max is cool. You'll like her." Feeling much better now, El smiled and nodded at Mike, letting go of his hand to finally shake Max's.


	3. The Second Invitation

**Wow guys, I want to say thank you for the amazing response to the first couple chapters! I honestly wasn't expecting it, and I appreciate all of you who took (or are taking) the time to read my random little story. I hope you all like this chapter! -Ava**

* * *

Meanwhile, Hopper and Joyce had disappeared inside to let the kids talk. Jonathan was in Will's room watching over him; Will didn't like to be treated like he was different but after all that had happened, both Joyce and Jonathan were determined not to let him out of their sight. At least for a little while.

He was still sleeping, but Joyce led Hopper back to his bedroom anyways as long as he promised to keep it down. Joyce entered the room and knelt down on her knees next to Jonathan, gently pushing Will's hair out of his face.

"We've been keeping him warm," Joyce explained. Hopper could tell. The house was like a sauna and Jonathan was sweating. Hopper didn't think he'd ever had a "normal" visit to this house.

"Joyce, the monster's not going to come back if you turn the heat down a little," he countered, keeping his voice low.

"I know, I know." Joyce shook her head. "It's just…"

"Hey, Mom." Jonathan's quiet voice cut her off as he reached for her hand, squeezing it tight. "It's okay." Even though Will was technically safe now, his mother was still understandably shaken. Why had all of these horrible things had to happen to her precious boy? He was so sweet and kind and gentle…he didn't deserve any of this. Between what had happened both this year and last year, Joyce didn't know what to do. Will was safe physically, but how about mentally? He was far too young to have gone through so much.

"How long has he been asleep?" Hopper questioned.

"Since we got home," Joyce replied. "He was so tired, so we put him straight to bed. I watched him for most of the night, and then Jonathan came to take over but I couldn't sleep, I…" She hadn't been able to stop thinking about Will and about Bob. Bob and the horrible, horrible way that he died. Bob had made her feel like everything was going to be okay, like they could finally be normal after all that had happened, but now he was just…gone. She'd thought that killing the monster would make her feel better, as if his death was somehow avenged, but she didn't feel better at all. Joyce took several deep breaths before looking back at Hopper. He didn't look so good either. "Did you sleep?"

"Of course not," he muttered, shaking his head and crossing his arms. "How the hell is anyone supposed to sleep after all that? And El, she…I'll be honest, there were a few moments there I was worried she wasn't going to make it."

"Oh, Hop," Joyce said empathetically. She leaned over to press a kiss to Will's forehead, placing her hand on Jonathan's shoulder as she stood. "Stay with him," she instructed. Jonathan nodded obediently and Joyce nudged Hopper outside of Will's room, closing the door behind them. Everything had happened so fast, and now that things were slowing down they had the chance to fill in the gaps of information. Starting with Hopper and El.

The adults looked down the hall to see the kids still outside on the porch. Mike and Eleven were holdings hands and sitting on the railing facing the window, smiling and laughing along with the others. They were telling her the story of how they broke into the tunnels to attract the demodogs away, having a very animated discussion about it. El could hardly believe what she was hearing and her face showed it- wide eyes, a huge smile, and more hugs all around. It made Hopper's heart soar to see her so happy, out there acting like a regular kid. But El's sixth sense caught them staring and just as she'd locked eyes with Hopper he looked away, leaning against the wall and pulling a cigarette and lighter out of his pocket.

"Hopper, really?" Joyce asked, leaning against the opposite wall and crossing her arms.

"What, Joyce, like you don't smoke in here?" For a moment they just looked at one another before he relented and shoved the unlit cigarette back in his pocket. "Alright, fine." Joyce gazed out the window again, shaking her head.

"You've really had her all this time?" she asked in disbelief.

"No," Hopper responded. "Not exactly. I mean, a week or two after everything had cooled down some guy comes to the station, tells me a crazy girl magically hurled a flaming branch at him and stole his hat and coat. So I laid some bait and she took it. It was Christmastime when I found her."

"Bait?" Joyce looked at him incredulously.

"Eggos," Hopper elaborated. "Kid's crazy about 'em, so I knew she'd go for it." Joyce's expression hadn't changed.

"You lured a child with Eggos," she repeated.

"Yeah," he confirmed, not understanding what part of it wasn't sinking in. "She had the guy's missing hat and coat and everything."

"Well…why didn't she just come back? Maybe not to the Wheelers' but she knew where this house was, I could've done something. She _saved_ Will, we would have helped her. Has she told you?"

"That's the thing about El, she doesn't…she doesn't say a whole lot." Hopper glanced at her one more time through the window. She was leaning on Mike's shoulder with her eyes closed now, that little smile on her face. He was going to have to give that boy a talk one of these days. Not that he would listen. "She told me the bad men- ah, the government workers- were at the Wheelers' when she got back, and they were looking for her. I guess she just thought she'd have a better chance on her own."

Joyce's heart broke for the girl. It was impossible for her to imagine the life she must have had before, that forced her to believe she was safer alone in the woods than seeking help. She bit her lip and shifted uncomfortably, struggling with the image. El was happy now, but it was still a terribly upsetting thing for a mother to hear about a child.

"And…what happens now?" Joyce pressured him. "She's just going to…stay in that cabin with you on lockdown?"

"No, not exactly. I got Dr. Owens out of the lab, so I'm going to see what he can do about whipping up a birth certificate for me. Get her a real name, not a number, and-"

"A father," Joyce cut him off. Hopper huffed and took off his hat, staring into it as if he'd never seen it before.

"Yeah," he said after a long pause. "If she wants that, I don't know." Their relationship was far from perfect. Just a few days ago she'd told him she hated him and that he was just like Brenner. That stung more than he'd let on, but he'd retaliated by calling her a brat. Repeatedly. They both had a lot of growing to do, but he was hoping that they would be able to grow together. He couldn't just assume, though- he had to ask her. And he would, when the time was right.

"Mom!" Jonathan's voice came from inside Will's room. Not a second later, he opened the door. "Will's awake."

* * *

Eleven was nervous to meet Will, even though there was no reason to be. He was just a boy, and she'd met him before…if their seconds-long encounter in the Upside Down counted as meeting. But El didn't think that it did, really. She had no idea what Will was like, or what the boys had told him about her. But they had the Upside Down in common in a way that nobody else did, and that had to count for something.

The rest of the kids remained in the living room while Joyce led El into Will's bedroom to meet him. He was sitting upright in his bed with a mountain of pillows propping him up. Immediately, El noticed how much smaller he was than the rest of the boys, and how much paler. Jonathan was still sitting next to him and offered El a smile as she came in.

"Will, sweetie, you have a visitor," Joyce said gently, holding El's hand. "This is El. She helped us find you last year, remember?" Will looked exhausted, but he managed a smile.

"Yeah. Eleven, right?"

"Yes." El nodded in confirmation, sitting down in the chair next to Will's bed. Joyce motioned for Jonathan, who jumped up and followed her out of the room. "How…how are you feeling?" El asked.

"Better," the boy replied. "Much better. Just a little tired." El's eyes flickered down to her lap, the slightest smile tugging at her lips.

"Me, too." She'd wanted to see her friends so badly, but truthfully she was still feeling the side effects of closing the gate.

"I can't believe I'm finally meeting you," Will said. "Last year, you were all anyone talked about for a month. You're like, a wizard, right?" El vaguely recalled someone calling her that last year, so she nodded.

"Yes. I think so," she said.

"That's so cool. You flipped a van?" El's smile widened at the memory.

"Yes." Soon enough both of them were smiling, hitting it off right away. Will had decided she was a bit strange, but in a good way. He knew that he was a freak, too, and Jonathan was right- he would much rather be friends with the wizard who could flip a van than a boring nobody. Eleven was far from boring, and Will didn't scare El quite as much as Dustin and Lucas did. Not that they were scary, they were just…loud. They yelled at each other a lot and made her feel overwhelmed. Will didn't seem like the type who was even capable of yelling, but maybe that was just because he was still so tired. Either way, it made El feel more comfortable with him. He was sweet, and she was happy that he would become her friend as well.

"I also heard that Mike has a huge crush on you," Will added with amusement. El noted that color was starting to return to his face, probably as a result of smiling so much. "Is that true?"

"I…I don't know what that means."

"Oh." They _had_ told him that she hadn't known very many words. "Uh…"

"He invited me to the Snow Ball, long time ago," El offered, wondering if that would help him. He was being awkward, so maybe it was a similar topic. She had never quite gotten over the fact that she missed it; El wasn't entirely sure what it was that she'd missed, but it had been important to Mike and that made it important to her. "Is that the same?"

"He did what?" Will seemed to be regaining his energy more quickly now. All of the color had returned to his face and his eyes were sparkling mischievously. If he could tease his best friend about liking a girl, then maybe things really could go back to normal. "Mike! Lucas! Dustin! Come here!"

Mrs. Byers had let El go in alone first just in case having too many people in his room at once overwhelmed him, but at the sound of their friend's voice the other three boys scrambled to their feet and made a beeline for his bedroom.

"Will!" Dustin hugged him first, followed by Lucas and then Mike. They all piled onto his bed, celebrating. "It's good to have you back. Again," Dustin smiled, going in for another hug. Max hung back behind El's chair, but she smiled along with the rest of them.

"And El got rid of the Mind Flayer, so you're totally safe now," Mike added, patting Will on the back.

"Mind Flayer?" Will questioned, raising his eyebrows.

"That's what we named the Shadow Monster," Lucas clarified. "You know, because it-"

"Lucas, shut up. He doesn't want to talk about that," Mike snapped. He doubted that Will wanted to hear about the details of his possession right now.

"No," Will agreed, "I want to talk about-"

"Dude, you should have seen it. Remember Dart? Well, I totally saved the day-" Dustin began, but Will cut him off.

"Guys," he laughed, smiling at all of his friends. He put on the smile, but he didn't want to talk about the Upside Down at all right now. He wanted to be normal. Joyce and Hopper stood in the doorway again, watching the kids interact fondly. They were all so happy together, no one ever would have guessed what they'd just seen and endured less than twenty-four hours ago. "Calm down. Please. I don't want to talk about the…Mind Flayer." The monster was something entirely different to Will, but he used the title to appease them. The boys quieted down just enough for Will to ask his question.

"Mike," he said, looking at his friend, "are you taking Eleven to the Snow Ball?" Mike's smile dropped off his face and he turned bright red.

"What?"

"She said you asked."

"Yeah, last year! That Snow Ball already happened!"

"Well, what about this year?" Will was really putting Mike on the spot, but it was funny, and they were all at that age. "There's another Snow Ball, you know."

"Yes, I _know,"_ Mike and Lucas were beside themselves giggling, and Max looked amused as well. El wasn't sure what Will was trying to do, but when he said that there was another Snow Ball her eyes lit up. She could still go if there was another one, right?

"Mike," she said, leaning forward and putting her hand over his. "You promised we would go to the Snow Ball." That got a reaction out of everyone. Lucas leaned back and clapped his hands together, cracking up.

"Oh, you're in deep shit, Mike," he teased. Mike soured slightly; he didn't really want to ask her to the dance in front of everyone, but one glance at El and he softened. She didn't understand why this was embarrassing, she just wanted to go. His friends could tease him all he wanted, but El wasn't going to. He already had it better than most guys, anyways- he had a guaranteed yes.

"I did promise," he agreed, putting his other hand on top of hers. "Alright. El, do you want to go to this year's Snow Ball? With me?" El nodded enthusiastically and threw her arms around him, so happy to be getting a second chance to go.

"Oh El, your first date!" Joyce cooed from the doorway, her hand over her heart. Everyone seemed to have forgotten she was there. It was adorable, really, and Joyce knew how happy it made Will to see his friends happy. Hopper had zoned out a bit as a result of his exhaustion, but the word "date" caught his attention.

"Woah, woah, woah. Wait a second. Who said anything about a date?"


	4. A Blue Dress

El looked confused. What was a date, and why was Hopper so opposed to it? "What is a date?" she asked, looking towards the adults. Hopper sighed. Damn, why did this have to happen now? She was thirteen, and twelve of those years had been spent in a lab. He hadn't gone on his first date until high school, and even then it was all stupid and meaningless.

Oh, shit. _High school._ There it was again. If El was going to be normal, he was going to have to get her enrolled at the damn high school. Just the thought made him grimace. Teenagers were cruel, and El was…different. They'd pick on her. And how was he supposed to get her caught up academically, anyways? She still had so much to learn, and if she started _dating…_

And he'd thought things were going to be simple from here on out.

Joyce found El's innocent question endearing. "A date is a special time with someone that you like," she explained. The boys were all struggling to keep it together, but El thought that sounded wonderful. Special time with Mike. That was exactly what they needed after spending so long apart.

"Oh," she said with a smile, gazing back at Mike. He was still red. Why was he red?

"Yeah, okay, well…cool," Mike said, sliding his hand out of hers shyly. Will was beaming, happy that his little scheme had worked out. It wasn't really a scheme though; this was what they both had wanted in the first place. He just gave them a nudge.

"Hang on, stop the party," Hopper cut in with an exasperated sigh. "El, you're not going on a date." El looked back at him, her eyebrows furrowed together in confusion.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because you're too young for that shit, that's why."

"Language!" Joyce reprimanded. "Hopper really, it's not a big deal." Mike was glaring at Hopper, shooting daggers that almost rivaled Eleven's. Hopper wasn't having any of it.

"No, Joyce, she's _thirteen-"_

"It's a middle school dance, Hop. I'd be more concerned if she was any older," Joyce pointed out. Putting her hands on Hopper's shoulders, she started to direct him out of Will's bedroom. "Come on, you need some coffee." Jim went reluctantly, grumbling all the way down the hall. Once he was out of sight, Joyce reached back to gesture to the kids to carry on and the kids erupted into a fit of laughter.

"Have you ever been to a dance before, El?" Will asked, the only one besides Eleven who seemed to be able to remain calm. The girl shook her head. She knew what dancing was, but she didn't quite know what she was getting herself into.

"It's super lame," Max's voice came from behind. "You have to wear a dress, do your hair, makeup…" She was obviously expecting El to agree with her that that sounded terrible; she didn't look like the type who would be into girly things. But dresses, nice hair, and makeup were all familiar to El, and she smiled at the notion. It wasn't that she disliked wearing overalls, baggy jeans and t-shirts, but it would be nice to get to wear a dress and feel pretty again.

"You aren't going?" Lucas asked Max suddenly. He almost looked worried, but the redhead just shrugged.

"Why should I?" she asked. "Like I said, it'll be lame."

"Lame can be fun!" Lucas argued passionately.

"Oh yeah?" Max looked at him with a smirk. "Why do you want me to go so bad, Stalker?" Lucas sputtered awkwardly and glanced away.

"No reason," he replied.

Will caught El's smile and wanted to encourage her. She was still a little shy and Will wanted to make her feel more comfortable, but also, focusing on her and the dance kept his friends from focusing on him and how he was doing. Will wasn't ready to talk about it, and he didn't know when he would be. "You'll like it," he promised. "Maybe my mom can take you shopping or something, for a dress."

"Yeah, or Nancy could take you," Mike suggested. "I'm sure she would, and she knows all about that kind of thing."

"Oh, good idea," Will agreed with a big smile. He knew that his mom would love to take El shopping, but she really wasn't the most fashionable person in the world.

"I'll ask her," Mike said cheerfully. "Sound good, El?" El blinked and nodded. She didn't know Nancy very well, but she had always been nice. And she _was_ very good at being pretty.

"Yes," she agreed.

* * *

The next couple of weeks started to slow down, comparatively speaking, but emotions were still running high for everyone. There was a funeral for Nancy's friend Barbara and one for Bob Newby after the Hawkins Lab was exposed, and after that happened Hopper started getting more protective of Eleven. She was associated with the lab and Hopper was convinced that there were more scattered throughout the country that would be looking for her. Everyone else thought that he was paranoid, but as far as Hopper was concerned, he couldn't be too careful.

He'd been working with Dr. Owens, who was healing up pretty well and had agreed to make sure El got a birth certificate with him as her adoptive father. Giving El some legitimacy would help a lot. When Hopper had approached the idea of adoption with El she hadn't quite understood (or maybe he was just too awkward to explain it properly) but she had decided she wanted to continue living with him and that was enough. She wanted the cabin in the woods to be her home.

Which meant that he also had to start seriously thinking about how he was going to get her ready for high school. That was the most stressful thing of all. She was a teenager, and she was going to be dealing with everything that came with that- dating was already enough of a problem- but he also had to figure out how he was going to prepare her academically. El was a smart girl, but she would be years behind her classmates. She was a slow reader with a small vocabulary, she could barely tell time, the only science she knew was the experiments performed on her and he didn't even want to think about the math. On top of all that, there were the social struggles. She was shy. She got overwhelmed easily enough with all of her friends, what would happen when she had to go to gym class and everyone started yelling at her to throw a ball in a game that she didn't understand? He'd begun to tell her, over and over, that she couldn't use her powers around strangers. She wouldn't be able to use them as a crutch or a coping mechanism anymore. Damnit. It was all so complicated.

Needless to say, Hopper was shouldering most of the anxiety himself. El was excited at the prospect of going to school with her friends, but Hopper assumed it was because she didn't understand. She didn't understand what that meant, how much like _hell_ high school was for a lot of kids…then again, she'd already been through hell. She was a tough kid. But Hopper would kill anyone who tried to hurt his girl, that was for certain.

Nancy Wheeler was his solution. Or, part of the solution. She was an honor student with excellent grades, and apart from Jonathan and Steve Harrington she was the only high schooler that knew anything about El. She was also familiar with the high school curriculum and would know exactly what El needed to know. So, Hopper had offered her a job as El's official tutor, starting as soon as Nancy was ready.

He was sure that it was going to work out, mostly because it had to. But first, Nancy had insisted on taking El shopping for her dress. It was necessary "girl bonding time" according to Nancy, since they were going to be spending a lot of time in each other's company over the next several months. Hopper hated to admit it, but he kind of thought it was a good idea. The two had never spent much time together, and Nancy was going to have to win her over a little bit if she was going to get El to sit down and learn without scattering worksheets and firing pencils in her face when it got hard. Schoolwork was going to be difficult and frustrating, but dress shopping was supposed to be fun.

When Nancy arrived, El was waiting by the door wearing jeans, a flannel, a big coat and her favorite white sneakers. She was always excited to go to new places and learn about new things, and she was interested to get to known Nancy a little better. Mike had told her long ago that Nancy could be like her sister. Eleven had already met her real sister (an event that she still hadn't told anyone about), but since Kali was out of the picture for now she'd have to decide whether or not Nancy could be a good option.

The younger girl opened the door politely when Nancy approached. She stepped inside quickly, rubbing her hands together. Indiana winters were freezing, and this year was turning out to be especially cold.

"Hey there," Nancy said, offering a kind smile at El. "Ready for your first shopping trip?"

"Yes," El replied confidently, nodding her head. This was very important- she'd been waiting to go to the Snow Ball for so long, and it had to be perfect. Nancy was going to help her make it perfect.

"Hey, Nancy." Hopper entered the kitchen upon hearing her arrival, pulling his wallet out of his pocket. "How's it going?"

"...Better," Nancy replied. Barb's funeral had been one of the hardest things she'd ever gone through, but it was the closure that she and Barb's family had needed. It was still hard, and Nancy thought that she would always carry some of the guilt for Barb's death, but she felt much, much better now. At some point she would have to start moving on.

"Good," Hopper said. "Hey, thanks for doing this."

"Not a problem. We're going to have fun." Nancy put her hand on El's shoulder and smiled.

"Here's hoping. Well, here…" Opening his wallet, Hopper pulled out a hundred-dollar bill and handed it to Nancy. "Get her whatever she needs for the dance, maybe some other clothes, too. Whatever she wants. Don't worry about the change." Nancy's eyes widened, but she took the bill from him and put it in her purse. They could do a lot of damage with a hundred dollars.

"Roger that," she said with a nod. She wasn't going to argue with him. If he wanted her to spoil El, then so be it. "Alright, you ready?" El nodded and Hopper reached forward to ruffle up her curls before herding the two girls towards the door.

"Get out of here," he chuckled. "Don't draw too much attention to yourselves. Oh and hey, have her back for dinner okay?" Nancy nodded, turning back to give the chief a knowing smile.

"Stop worrying," she told him. "I'll keep an eye out. It's going to be fine." It was about a five minute walk down to the car, where El happily slid into the passenger seat and buckled up as Nancy started to turn around.

"So," she began, glancing at the thirteen-year-old. "Do you have any ideas for what you want?"

"A dress," El responded simply. That was the whole point of this, right? Nancy laughed and shook her head.

"Well, what _kind_ of dress?" she pushed gently. When El looked confused, Nancy realized she might need to clarify. "Like…what's your favorite color?"

El didn't have an immediate answer for that one, either. She'd never thought about it before. She leaned against the window and watched the scenery as Nancy drove, her eyes eventually lingering on the bright blue sky. "Blue," she decided. "I like blue."

"Okay, so a blue dress, maybe?" Ooh, that sounded nice. El looked to Nancy with a smile and nodded.

"Yes."

* * *

Nancy knew exactly the department store that would have a huge selection of dresses, and she wished she could have recorded Eleven's reaction as they walked inside. The girl's jaw dropped and her eyes went wide as she took in all the beautiful clothes laid out before her. This was incredible. How was she ever supposed to choose just one dress out of all of these?

Thankfully, Nancy was quick to help her narrow it down. "Okay, your sizes are going to be over here," Nancy said, leading El to a section labeled "Juniors." El was a little hard to lead because she was so distracted, but they made it eventually. "See anything you like?"

She didn't answer at first. El walked about slowly, reaching out to touch all of the different materials of the different dresses. She was just taking it in at this point, not seriously looking…there was so much going on. This was so difficult already. Then she remembered what she and Nancy had already decided: blue. She should focus on the blue ones. Going around for the second time El was a little more intentional about examining the dresses that had bluish colors, picking up a few once Nancy had managed to take a guess at her size. There was one in particular that El adored- a blue one, with small hot pink dots and a ruffled skirt. Nancy had advised that she try them all on, but she was pretty sure that was her favorite.

"You know, I thought I might look around for one too," Nancy said with a playful smile after they had picked out several dresses for El to try.

"You're going to the Snow Ball?" El asked.

"Well, I thought I might come and help out. Keep an eye on my baby brother." Nancy nudged El teasingly and actually managed to get a giggle out of her. Nancy thought she might have caught the slightest tinge of pink in her cheeks, too.

El followed Nancy and helped her pick out a couple of dresses as well before the two girls headed back to the fitting rooms. After Nancy had explained the "shopping rule" that they had to show each other everything they tried on, they disappeared into their individual rooms to start the process

El tried on a blue dress with a floral print first, while Nancy tried a pink one. It was quickly decided that the floral was "too busy" and that the pink made Nancy look "washed out." El had no idea what either of those things meant in the context of fashion, but they were obviously not good things and Nancy was the expert here, so she took her word for it.

Most of the dresses were nice- El liked almost all of them, actually, except for the uncomfortable ones. She didn't have much of a fashion standard and thought that they were all pretty, but she saved the best for last- the blue dress with the pink dots. She put it on in the dressing room and came out beaming, certain it was the one until Nancy said, "Oh, that's pretty on you. But it looks a little big, don't you think?"

"What?" El looked down at the dress, confused. It just hung straight down in a rather shapeless blob and the shoulders were a little wide, but El loved it. It was by far the most beautiful one she'd chosen, and she'd really wanted it to fit. "Too big?"

"Just barely," Nancy confirmed. El suddenly looked disheartened, and she was quick to fix her mistake. "But I'm sure we can find a smaller size," Nancy added. "I'll go check." After checking what size El had on currently, Nancy went back into the store to try and find another one. Minutes later, she came back with something in her hands, but it wasn't another dress. "They don't have anything smaller," she began, "but I think this might make it work." She presented a hot pink belt that matched the dots on the dress, and El tilted her head skeptically. How was that going to help?

Well, Nancy was the expert.

With the older girl's help, they fastened the pink belt around Eleven's waist and Nancy adjusted the dress until it lay just right. When she was finished, she turned El around to look in the mirror.

"There we go," she said. "What do you think?" The belt made it look like less of a bag and more of a dress, and it was beautiful. Stepping closer to the mirror, El tugged at her wild curls, pulling them down to lay flat against her head and making her hair look longer. Without any additional comments from Nancy, a smile tugged at the corners of her lips.

"Pretty," she murmured. It wasn't a question this time.

Nancy ended up choosing a slim-fitting black and red patterned dress that she paid for herself, and then they moved onto other things. Nancy helped El find shoes, matching barrettes for her hair, and a gold bracelet for jewelry. She was also introduced more officially to the world of makeup, getting some purple eyeshadow, lip gloss, blush, and a dark brown mascara. When everything she needed for the dance was chosen, the girls went to town in spending the rest of the money Hopper had given them. By the end of the day El not only had a new dress, she had a couple sweaters, headbands, and a small gold necklace with a star on it that El had wanted just because.

El returned home tired, but happy. And now that she had the perfect ensemble, she was even more excited for the Snow Ball then before. Hopefully Mike would think she was as pretty as she felt.

Before dashing inside with her shopping bags, she leaned over to give Nancy the briefest of hugs and the tiniest little smile. The new clothes were wonderful, but El also felt like she could have a new sister, too.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading everyone! I know this is more or less just a filler chapter, but I feel like it's necessary and I was wondering how Eleven found her dress! Also fun fact, $100 in 1984 is equivalent to $240 in 2017. Who knew? Next chapter, prepare for Dad Hopper and Mileven feels! -Ava**


	5. Ways to Say I Love You

"Ugh!" Eleven's scream of frustration came from her bedroom, alerting Hopper to her distress. She'd been in there for over an hour already, trying to get ready for the dance this evening. Apparently it wasn't going well.

Setting his newspaper down on the coffee table in front of the couch, Hopper sighed and rose to his feet, going to knock on the closed door. "Hey, kid? How's it going in there?"

"I hate this!" came her reply. "I can't!" Her voice cracked and he heard the sound of something crashing against the wall. Hopper rubbed his forehead, already getting a headache. But if living with El had taught him one thing, it was the importance of being patient.

"Can I come in?" he asked. The door creaking open was his response, and Hopper entered to the sight of El sitting hunched over on the edge of her bed in that dress she loved so much, holding her head in her hands. Her shoulders were shaking as if she was crying, and Hopper's vague annoyance was quick to shift to concern.

"Hey," he said gently, coming to sit beside her. Awkward as always, he slid his arm around her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. "Hey. What's up?"

"I can't," she whimpered, sniffling. "My hair, the…eyeshadow." Ah, so that was it. Hopper probably should have predicted this- Nancy had told her how to do her hair and makeup, but listening and understanding the process was much different than actually doing it. He didn't know what to tell her; it wasn't like he had any experience in those departments either.

"What are you talking about? You look great." Wordlessly, El lifted her head and looked up at him, clearly not amused. It was then that Hopper saw what she was talking about. Her hair was tangled and all over the place, not at all the sculpted look she'd been trying for. And the purple eyeshadow that she had spoken of so fondly was smudged all over her eyes, looking more like a bruise than a fashion statement. He sighed again, patting her back and groaning as he rose to his feet.

"Alright, kid. Let me go make a call."

Once again, Nancy Wheeler was his solution. It was a little weird to call the Wheeler's house and ask for Nancy, but it had to be done and thankfully her father didn't seem to care about anything. Hopper held the phone between his ear and his shoulder and listened attentively as Nancy recited the hair and makeup instructions, a pen and paper in his hands.

"Well, how do I get the damn stuff off?" he asked in reference to the eyeshadow. She was making it sound so complicated. "Makeup remover. Okay, and she has that? What about the hair? Yes, I know how to use a _comb,_ Nancy." He tried to write down literally everything that she said, knowing that he would forget the second that he hung up. Once he had all of his questions answered (more or less), he thanked Nancy for her help and returned to El, notebook in hand.

"Alright," he said, kneeling down in front of her. "I'm gonna need you to not cry if we're doing makeup, okay? I think that messes it up." It took El another second to finish calming down, but she eventually nodded. Hopper managed to track down the makeup remover Nancy had bought for her and gently wiped away the eyeshadow on her face before trying again, dipping a small brush into the powder. "Close your eyes," he instructed gently. The eyeshadow wasn't very hard, actually; she was just using the one color, and Nancy's tip to press the color into her eyelids instead of brushing it across was very helpful in keeping it from flying all over the place. The harder part was dusting it under her eyes, but El was able to help with that a little more since she could actually see. The hard part, she said, was having to close her eyes for the top and not being able to see what she was doing.

With the eyeshadow done, he helped her with the blush and then left it to her to do the mascara and lip gloss. Those things didn't require brushes, which seemed to be what was making it tricky.

Then came the hair. That was when he really had to refer to Nancy's notes. It took forever, but eventually they managed to untangle whatever mess Eleven had created by working a product that was supposed to define her hair a little more and combing it back with his fingers to maintain the texture. El added some little blue hair clips to keep it back and then covered her face with the skirt of her dress while Hopper went to town with the hairspray. By the time they were finished they should have left fifteen minutes ago, but the smile on her face when she saw her reflection made it worth it. "There we are," Hopper said, rather proud of himself. "What did I say? You look great." He wasn't quite sure how to go about complimenting her, but she did look great. Seeing her all dressed up and going to the dance- her first date, as Joyce said- created a bittersweet ache in his chest.

Hopper had gotten the birth certificate from Dr. Owens a couple of days ago. He hadn't shown it to her yet- he was still trying to figure out the right way to explain what it meant. The right way to say that he was her father now and he loved her more than anything. It wasn't easy at all. "I love you" wasn't exactly a phrase that Hopper was comfortable with, but it was true. He already felt as if she was growing up too fast.

El smiled and nodded, turning around in the mirror and gingerly patting her hair down. She looked great. Better than she ever had, actually, but she was still nervous. "Yes," she agreed. "But what if…what if Mike-"

"What if Mike doesn't think so?" Hopper finished, anticipating her question. El bit her lip and nodded. He sighed, deciding that just for tonight, he wouldn't say something sarcastic about her budding relationship. Crossing in front of her, he leaned over and put his hands on his knees to lower himself to her eye level. "I'll tell you what," he said, a strange mixture of seriousness and affection in his voice. "If Mike doesn't think so, then he's a damn fool and he doesn't deserve you." He paused for a moment to let that sink in. "Got that? You're beautiful, inside and out." He moved to stand beside her, letting her look in the full-length mirror again. "What does _El_ think?" he asked.

For a moment El just stood there, staring at her reflection. She was always hard to read, but eventually she managed a little nod and Hopper was satisfied.

"Well, then that's all that matters," he told her. "Who cares what anyone else thinks?" Well, El cared, but she nodded anyways, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. He was probably right.

"Beautiful?" she repeated, glancing up at him. She knew the word, but it was hard for her to believe.

"Beautiful," Hopper repeated. "And also late. What do you say we snap a few pictures and get going, yeah?"

"Okay."

Eleven had never posed for pictures before, so this was also a new experience. Hopper wasn't going to put her through an entire photoshoot like his mom had made him do when he was her age, but he knew that he would regret it if he let her first dance go by without capturing the moment. So for the sake of preventing regret he had El stand by the wall where the lighting was decent, told her to smile, and snapped a few photos on a dusty old Polaroid that he hardly ever used. Then after making sure she had her coat and her ticket, they made the short journey to the truck and got on the road.

He let El take the Polaroids to watch them develop as they drove, and it was almost hard for Hopper to drive because he was so distracted by her reactions. "That's me!" she exclaimed, pointing at the picture with excitement as the colors grew increasingly brighter.

"Yeah, that's kind of the point, kid," Hopper chuckled. El knew what pictures were, of course, and she'd seen lots of pictures of other people, but never one of herself. It was like looking in a past mirror. In that moment, El decided that she loved pictures. No matter how much things continued to change, the photos would stay the same. El liked that.

Finally, they arrived at the middle school. It was dark and they were running pretty late after the whole hair and makeup fiasco, but El was excited…right up until the moment that she was supposed to get out of the car. There was a moment that she hesitated, looking at all the other kids going inside. All of her friends were in there, but so were a lot of people that she didn't know. People that didn't know her.

"Hey." Hopper caught her attention, causing her to turn her head back to him. She met his eyes briefly before he looked down to take off the little blue braided bracelet that he always wore, his expression happy and broken and loving all at the same time. Gently, he took her hand and slid the bracelet around her wrist, next to the gold one she'd picked out with Nancy. "I want you to have this. For luck."

El stared at her wrist, not sure what to say. As long as she'd known the police chief he'd worn this, all the time. She'd never seen him without it. It was a part of him, and that combined with the fact that he seemed to be near tears told El that it meant something, something very important. "What is it?" she asked him softly.

"It…" Hopper rubbed his hand across his forehead, closing his eyes for a moment. "It belonged to someone very special," he said. "She…she's gone now. But I think she'd want you to have it." El recalled their conversation in the truck on the way to the lab, and suddenly understood.

"Sara," she said. He didn't need to confirm that she was right, because she already knew.

"Yeah," Hopper sighed, exhaling deeply. "Sara." He already felt strange not having it on his wrist, but he knew that this was the right thing to do. It was just a little hair tie that would be insignificant to anyone else, but to Hopper it symbolized his lost little girl. And El…she was his little girl now. While she could never replace Sara and he could never hope to replace the childhood that had been stolen from El, giving her that bracelet was his way of saying that he loved her, that she was his daughter. El was his second chance, and he couldn't lose her. He couldn't see her getting hurt. She was challenging and teaching and inspiring him every day- she was healing him, and though he didn't know it, he was healing her.

El was quiet at first, but the look in her eyes told him that she understood. Reaching across the space between them, she squeezed his hand tightly and blinked back tears.

"Family," she said, surprising him with the word. She understood that this wasn't just for the dance. He had worn it constantly, and so would she. It represented family. _Their_ family. "I won't take it off. Promise." For a second, Hopper didn't know what to do. That word coming out of her mouth broke him, and he had to blink back a few tears of his own. Damn, this girl.

"Hey now, no crying," Hopper reminded her with a chuckle when he noticed she was getting teary, trying to lighten the mood. He was uncomfortable with expressing his emotions so openly, but El had a way of completely destroying him. "But yes. Family." His hand tightened around hers for the briefest of moments before he let her go. Emotions were heavy in the truck, but Hopper felt as if a huge burden had just been lifted off of his shoulders. "Alright, get in there before Mike thinks he got stood up," he said with a smile. "Have fun." El opened the door, slipped out of the car and smiled back, nodding before she turned towards the school.

It was freezing so El was quick to run towards the door, but just before she went in she stopped and glanced back at the truck. Hopper gave her a wave from the inside and with a little wave back, she turned and walked inside. Hopper smiled to himself as his eyes fell to his wrist, bare for the first time in years. It was bittersweet, but damn if that girl wasn't the best thing to ever happen to him.

* * *

 **I know I promised Mileven, but as I was writing I thought Hopper and El deserved their own chapter :) If you didn't catch the Easter Egg with the blue bracelet, definitely look up the pictures! It's the sweetest thing and I just had to write about him giving it to her. Thank you so much for reading! -Ava**


	6. Two Photographs

Nervously, El entered the school behind the other latecomers, following them and copying their actions. They all hung up their coats outside of the gym so El did the same, and then proceeded to the table where she was supposed to show her ticket. El walked up anxiously, going to Mr. Clarke, the nice science teacher she'd met a long time ago. He smiled kindly at her, his eyes lingering on her face as if he recognized her.

"Good evening," he said pleasantly. "May I see your ticket?"

"Ticket?" At first El was confused, having forgotten about that part, but then her eyes widened as she remembered. Mike had told her she would have to give them her ticket. Without a word of explanation, she turned around and went back to her coat, digging the ticket out of her pocket. Thankfully there was no line, so she was able to walk straight back up to the table. "Here it is," she said.

"Perfect, thank you." Mr. Clarke looked at the number on her ticket and then referred to his clipboard, crossing it off. "You're all set." El nodded and looked around, a bit lost again. Did she just walk right in, by herself? Everyone else seemed to be walking inside with other people.

"…Is everything alright?" Mr. Clarke asked after a moment.

"Where is Mike?" El decided to ask. Mr. Clarke's eyebrows shot up.

"Mike?"

"Wheeler." Mr. Clarke's eyebrows rose even higher and his lips turned up in a smile. How cute.

"I checked him in a bit ago. He should be in there already," he replied, pointing towards the gym doors. "I'm sure he won't be hard to find." It seemed like there were a lot of kids in there and El wasn't so sure about that, but she nodded. It seemed like she would just have to go in.

"Thank you."

"Not a problem," Mr. Clarke replied with a friendly smile. He watched with amusement as the girl, who he was assuming was Mike Wheeler's date, turned around and stepped into the gym.

Those first few seconds were a bit terrifying. El stepped into the room with wide eyes, trying to take everything in. But there was so much. People everywhere, none of whom she knew. There was dancing, sparkly decorations, music…she noticed Nancy standing behind a table and some kids sitting down, but where were her friends? Where was Mike?

El almost panicked, but then, she saw him. He was across the room by himself, standing next to a table and looking straight at her, an expression of wonder on his face. El felt her knees go weak. The rest of the room disappeared, the rest of the people didn't matter. There was only one person she cared about: _Mike._

Wordlessly the two teenagers approached each other. They were both a little shy, but in the best way. El gazed into his dark eyes, silently admiring him. The more she'd seen him since coming back the more she realized how much he'd actually changed. His hair seemed thicker, and his features were more defined. She'd seen him in the void, but seeing him in person was so much different. Before disappearing, the idea of Mike being handsome had never really crossed her mind. But now it was all she could think about.

He seemed equally taken with her appearance, too. "You look beautiful," he said with a smile, using the same word Hopper had used earlier. El's heart soared to hear that he thought so, and she cast a bashful glance at the ground. Just like that, he'd made her night. "Do you want to dance?"

"I…don't how how," came El's uncertain reply. She had never danced before.

"I don't either," Mike admitted with a casual shrug. "Want to figure it out?" El liked the sound of that. Figuring it out, together. He took her hand and El felt her heart skip a beat. The weight of his hand in hers was so real, and that was the best part. He didn't dissolve into the darkness anymore when she reached for him- he was there, in real life. El felt like she just might die of happiness. Which, compared to the many other ways she had almost died, didn't sound like a bad way to go.

Mike led her onto the dance floor and kindly guided her, bring her hands up to rest on his shoulders before placing his own on her waist. El smiled and inched closer, adjusting her position to stand just a bit nearer to him. Her heart wouldn't stop fluttering and she was beginning to think she might just pass out, but there was no way she was missing this moment. She gazed up at his beautiful dark eyes, the sprinkling of freckles over his nose. She'd always felt a strong attachment to him, but it had taken being forced apart (and a fair share of dramatic soaps) to make her realize the depth of her feelings. Was it love, like what they talked about in the movies?

The trouble with that question was El was still trying to develop a working definition of love. It would be straightforward enough, but there seemed to be many different kinds of it. There was, for instance, El's love for her blue dress. She loved it because it was pretty, but then she also loved Eggos and ice cream. She would sooner give up her dress than never eat an Eggo again. But _then,_ there were her friends. Dustin, Lucas, Will…even Max. El loved them with all her heart, but it was different. Different from the way she felt about Eggos, different from the way she felt about Hopper, and very, very different from how she felt about Mike. Everyone was in their own special category of love. El just didn't know what that meant.

They danced slowly, stepping back and forth in time with the music. El was mostly following Mike's lead, completely captivated just looking at him. She never got bored looking at him, but little did she know he was feeling the exact same way. For him it was just like before, but stronger. She was so beautiful, and kind and brave and smart. Mike knew that he loved her- there was no question about it. There was no other explanation for this feeling. He was fully aware that he was probably being naïve- both of their brains were still developing and all that, but Mike couldn't figure out what else it could be. It couldn't be a crush, or a shallow infatuation. If that was the case, he wouldn't have called her every night for a year. It _had_ to be love. And now, he loved her too much to care if anyone saw or worry about what they thought. He leaned in, and this time El knew exactly what to do. She closed her eyes and rose onto her toes just slightly, her arms tightening around his neck as she leaned into the kiss.

It was perfect, really. If El's heart was fluttering before, it stopped completely when Mike kissed her. It only lasted for a second, nothing like the long, drawn-out kisses she'd seen on TV, but it was enough. When they separated El blinked, taking a second to process what had just happened before she met Mike's eyes again. In her peripheral vision she could see several faces turned towards them watching, but El didn't care. She didn't realize that middle school students kissing at dances was unusual, and she didn't know that when he went back to school on Monday he would get made fun of relentlessly for it. All she knew was that Mike was worth any amount of strange looks, and she would kiss him with the whole world watching.

Feeling nothing but happiness in the moment, El leaned forward to rest her forehead against Mike's, closing her eyes again and smiling to herself. Neither of them said anything, and they didn't need to. They danced through a few songs together, slowly inching closer and closer to one another until El's head was resting on his shoulder and Mike's arms were wrapped all the way around her.

Both of them could have stayed there for hours, but there was only a minute or so left in the slow song before the more upbeat music came on again. The couples around them separated and the slow dancing turned into some kind of crazy jumping around, waking El up from her daydream and catapulting her back into reality. The suddenly loud music frightened her and she jumped back, looking at Mike with wide eyes. Looking at everyone else was no help at all. She barely knew how to sway back and forth, how on earth was she supposed to do _that?_ Mike noticed her expression and understood, giving her hand a comforting squeeze.

"Hey, let's go say hi to everyone else," Mike suggested. "We can have Jonathan take our picture, or something. Does that sound fun?" El's eyes lit up at that, having just experienced the magic of photography for the first time herself.

"Yes," she agreed.

Hand in hand, Mike led her off of the dance floor and over to the tables stationed around the perimeter of the gym, where the rest of their friends were waiting.

"El, you made it!" Will said with a sweet smile. He was quickly becoming her second favorite, next to Mike. "What do you think?" The girl looked around at the transformed gymnasium, trying to figure out how to put her thoughts into words.

"It's…loud," she decided finally. "But nice. Fun." She glanced around again before coming back to Will. "Where is Jonathan?"

"Jonathan? He's over there, taking pictures." Will pointed across the room to his older brother, standing behind a camera. El took note of the location and nodded, looking hopefully at Mike. The boy smiled knowingly. He always understood what she meant, even if she didn't say anything out loud.

"We thought we could all go take a picture together," Mike told them. "The new and improved Party." He noticed Max's face brighten at that suggestion, though not before he noticed her hand in Lucas's. It looked like the redhead was here to stay, but Mike was getting used to that idea. He knew he'd been a real jerk to her, and despite everything she had more than proven herself worthy of being an official member of the Party.

"That's a great idea," Dustin said cheerfully. He was especially cheerful as well, after Nancy Wheeler had invited him to dance. It had given his confidence the boost that it needed after the unfortunate encounter with Stacey, who he had all but forgotten about at this point.

"Yeah, sounds cool," Lucas agreed. "Max?" The redhead smirked, locking eyes with El. If she understood correctly, both of the girls been rejected from the group at one point or another, and she thought it was high time they put a stop to that for good.

"Sounds like a nice way to make it official," she replied.

With that, the group of friends made their way towards Jonathan, who seemed thrilled to see his little brother smiling and surrounded by his friends. He ruffled Will's hair playfully, offering that slightly crooked smile of his.

"Hey, buddy. How's it going?"

"Good," Will responded with a laugh, shoving Jonathan's hand away. "Can you take our picture?"

"Oh, yeah, sure." Jonathan looked rather excited that Will had asked, and motioned for the group to stand in front of the backdrop. El found herself sandwiched between Will and Mike, with Lucas and Max next to him and Dustin on the end. Jonathan had them all shift to the left a bit before telling them all to smile and snapping the picture.

As soon as it was taken, El let go of her friends and went up to the camera, examining it. "Where is it?" she asked. Did it not work?

"What do you mean?" Jonathan asked.

"Where's the picture?" El was expecting it to print out immediately so that she could watch it develop like she had with Hopper's Polaroid, but there was no picture.

"It's in the camera. I have to develop it."

"Develop it?" Nothing Jonathan said made any sense. "Why doesn't it just…come out?" Suddenly Jonathan understood what she was getting on about.

"Oh, El, it's…it's not a Polaroid. It doesn't print out the picture right away, I'll have to do that later." The girl's face fell, and she was thinking about whether or not it was possible to develop the picture with her powers so that she could see it now, but Will had a different idea.

"How about we bring it by the cabin tomorrow, so you can see?" he suggested. El looked over at the boy, her disappointment obvious, but if she couldn't see it today then that would have to do. She sighed, reaching to tuck back a loose strand of hair.

"Halfway happy," she shrugged. Jonathan sighed and raked his hand through his hair, wishing it didn't disappoint her so much. After all the kids had been through, he wasn't content with "halfway happy." The camera thing wasn't his fault, but El had saved Will and he wanted her to be completely happy.

"How about this," he began. "Let's get a picture of just you and Mike, too. Then you'll have two pictures to look forward to tomorrow." It took El a second to realize that was a good idea- she was here with all of her friends, but she had specifically agreed to come with _Mike,_ so it made sense that they would have their own picture.

Mike didn't complain, either. He didn't like his mom taking stupid pictures of him by himself on the staircase, but this was different. And if it made El happy, he would do it. "Yeah, good idea, Jonathan," he said, grabbing El's hand and bringing her back to the backdrop. He slid his arm around her shoulder a bit awkwardly and they both smiled as Jonathan snapped a couple pictures.

"Okay, now face each other," Jonathan instructed. It was like second-nature to him; he was always telling Will how to pose for the camera and couldn't help himself. Obediently the two kids turned to face each other and Mike took both of her hands in his. El turned her head to look at the camera thinking that was the standard procedure, but Jonathan waved his hand, gesturing for her to look back at Mike. They smiled at each other while Jonathan took a few more pictures. "Alright, that should be good," he said, leaning back to readjust the camera. He'd taken several, so they were bound to like at least one of them. "We'll bring those by for you tomorrow after I develop them, okay?"

El smiled and nodded. "Thank you," she said.

"No problem. Lucas, Max, whaddya say?" El stood back with her friends and watched with amusement as Jonathan took pictures of Max and Lucas. She peered over Jonathan's shoulder, watching how he operated the camera. She was fascinated by it and how the little machine could capture a moment so perfectly. Lucas and Max were a little sillier than she and Mike were and their pictures were funny, but still cute. Once they were done Jonathan snapped a few of Will and Dustin for good measure before sending them off.

The rest of the night was just as much fun. The boys and Max finally managed to drag El back out onto the dance floor for a couple of line dances, which were a lot of fun once she picked up the moves. She talked to Nancy briefly to lament about the difficulty of makeup, and even made tentative plans to have Max over for a sleepover at the cabin. The boys had sleepovers all the time and it sounded like a lot of fun, but El didn't even need to ask Hopper to know that he wouldn't be okay with boys sleeping over. Max he might be okay with, and El was curious to learn more about the only other girl in the friend group.

But best of all, she got to spend time with Mike. And if this was their first "date" as Mrs. Byers had put it, then it was a perfect one. Despite being exhausted, El was sad to leave at the end of the night- after being apart for so long, saying goodbye to Mike was always hard. She was anxious that every goodbye might be the last one for a long time, and even though Mike felt the same he always tried to reassure her, and himself by extension. The best way to alleviate the anxiety was to plan when they would see each other again before they separated.

"I'll call Hopper and see if I can come over with Nancy on Wednesday, okay? We can watch a movie after you're done with school," he said, squeezing both of her hands tightly in his. "And maybe you can come over to Will's house on Friday." They were standing just outside the school as the other kids got into their parents' cars. It was dark and cold, and it didn't look like either of their rides had shown up yet. Hopper was there, of course- he'd never left, but he was parked too far back and had gotten lost in the sea of other cars.

"Okay," El agreed, nodding her head. That sounded nice, if Hopper would go for it. He was weird about Mike, and El couldn't understand why. "I'll ask him." El was trying to respect Hopper's wishes, but sometimes it was so frustrating. At least this time her isolation had a deadline. Come fall of next year she would be fully integrated into society, going to the high school and seeing her friends every day. She just had to be patient. At least now Nancy was giving her homework to do and she didn't have to sit around all day watching TV.

"Hey, I…I had a really good time with you tonight," Mike told her, looking down and shuffling his feet. "I'm glad you could come, this time." El smiled softly.

"Me, too," she replied. That fluttery feeling returned and again El found herself in one of those moments where she had a lot to say but not enough words in her vocabulary to express herself. Why was it so difficult to tell Mike how she felt? When he looked up again, she decided to tell him the only way she knew how. Leaning forward, El closed her eyes and pressed her lips against his. It was only their third kiss, but it was quickly becoming one of El's favorite things to do. This one lasted for a full three seconds instead of one, and when she pulled away and looked into his eyes, she could see that it had the intended effect. He understood.

"Hey!" Hopper's gruff voice interrupted the sweet moment, and if that wasn't enough he punctuated his interjection by honking the horn on the truck. Apparently, he'd finally managed to make it through the line of cars. "Get away from my girl, Wheeler!" Mike jumped apart from El, smoothing down his jacket awkwardly.

"Yes, sir," he called back, flushing bright red. El giggled, stepping away towards the truck.

"Goodnight, Mike," she said. "Wednesday?"

"Uh, Wednesday," Mike confirmed, nodding. He was still a little shaken from Hopper's sudden arrival. "I promise." El smiled and nodded, turning around and climbing inside the truck. Hopper glared at Mike as they drove away- he wasn't angry at the kid, but did this have to happen so soon? He wasn't ready for _that_ talk yet. Hell, he wasn't ready for anything.

"So…you have fun?" he asked El, glancing at her. When they drove past the streetlights he could see her smile.

"Yes," she said contentedly.

"You gonna be out kissing boys now, then?"

"No," El replied, turning to look at him. "Only Mike." She looked so happy that Hopper couldn't bring himself to forbid her.

* * *

The next day around noon, Jonathan and Will stopped by as promised to drop off her pictures. El had already pinned one of Hopper's Polaroids up in her room, and she was absolutely thrilled to see how the other photos turned out. The picture of the Party filled her heart with joy, and it got pinned up right next to the Polaroid.

The second picture Jonathan had promised her was special as well- her and Mike, holding hands and gazing dreamily into each other's eyes. It was perfect, and it gave her butterflies just looking at it. The second photo got pinned up right above the other two in a place of honor. Hopper rolled his eyes when she showed it to him, but even he had to admit that it was sweet and offered to lend her the Polaroid the next time she went out with her friends so that she could collect some more pictures if she wanted.

Soon, El's entire wall would be covered with pictures of her and all the people she loved.

* * *

 **I know this is a little cheesy, but that's what the Snow Ball is- a cheesy school dance! :D So this is the point where I have a lot of different directions I could go- do you guys want to see El jump forward to high school or is that too big of a leap? Do you all want it to stay lighthearted or should I come up with a more serious conflict? Leave a review and let me know! Thank you all again for reading! -Ava**


	7. Boyfriend and Girlfriend

Just as promised, Mike came over with Nancy on Wednesday to hang out with her after she had finished her tutoring. It meant that Nancy would have to stay a little bit later but she didn't mind; she could do her own homework anywhere, and it wasn't like she had much else better to do. Although she and Steve were still friendly they didn't hang out much anymore, and time with Jonathan was always a bit hard to come by. He was shy, and now that things were getting back to normal Nancy was still in the process of coaxing him out of his shell and making things official.

Hopper had reluctantly agreed to let Mike come over, but he knew that the boy would be a distraction for El while she was trying to do her work. El really needed to focus on her schoolwork, and it was difficult enough for her as it was. Nancy was endlessly patient, but El wasn't used to learning in a more academic format. She picked up things quickly and remembered every definition Nancy told her, but remembering the words wasn't always the same as understanding them and being able to apply them in different contexts. El had resisted the urge to fling the stupid textbooks across the room with her mind more than once, especially the math. She had never even learned basic mathematical functions before, and now she was supposed to know what to do with numbers and letters _combined?_ It was impossible.

But for all her academic shortcomings, El was diligent. Hopper had been very clear that she would need to start school in the fall, and if she wasn't ready for high school then she might have to start at the middle school level. If she was starting in 7th grade while her friends moved to 8th that was one thing, but the thought of being at a completely different school than her friends horrified her. It ruined the entire point of going to school, really- at least, in El's opinion.

Today she had an extra motivation to work hard, because after she finished everything Nancy had for her she got to spend time with Mike. Time with Mike, Hopper was discovering, was an easy way to bribe El into doing almost anything.

Not that he bribed his teenage daughter very often.

Still, it was starting to get to the point where Hopper didn't think he could avoid the dad talk with Michael Wheeler for much longer. The kid was going to be fourteen years old in less than a month, and Jim remembered all too well what he was like at fourteen. Mike was a good kid, and if he was going to be the boy his daughter chose to date then quite honestly she could do worse, but he still needed to establish some ground rules. That was what fathers did, right? He'd never gotten this far with Sara, but the bottom line was that he wanted to protect El. Mike cared about her immensely, any idiot could see that, but that didn't mean he couldn't hurt her.

"It's three-forty-five," El complained, leaning in the doorway of her bedroom. After Nancy's relentless teaching, she was finally able to consistently tell time on both her digital watch from Mike and the wall clock. "Where are they?" Nancy was usually here by three thirty at the latest. Hopper chuckled and shook his head.

"I'm sure they're almost here. Be patient." El groaned, turning around and stomping back into her room. "Patient," she had learned, was basically just another word for "soon." They were…synonyms. Yes, that was what Nancy had called two words that meant the same thing.

Hopper chuckled again and poured himself a cup of coffee, picking up a novel and sitting on the couch. He had the day off, and since Mike was coming over with his sister today he thought he just might be able to use the opportunity to give the boy that talk. It had been long enough, and hopefully the Wheeler kid had forgiven him enough to listen and realize that anything he said was only out of care for El and her well-being. Then again, he was still a thirteen-year-old boy.

At exactly four o'clock, Nancy showed up at the door with Mike, who had his backpack and three movies tucked under his arm. After gaining entrance with the secret knock El ran to the door, throwing her arms around Mike. She was always so relieved to see him.

"Hey, El," Mike said warmly, hugging her back. "How are you?"

"Better," El replied, pulling back and smiling at him. Mike always made her day better. "How are you?"

"Good, school was really interesting today," Mike said. "I thought I'd do my homework while you work with Nancy, and then I picked out some movies we could watch after. Sound fun?" He held up the set of tapes and El nodded enthusiastically. She wasn't picky about movies; romances tended to be her favorite, but she'd yet to see a movie that hadn't amazed her.

"Sorry we're late," Nancy commented, dropping her bag on the little table in the kitchen. "Took him forever to pick those out."

"Did not!" Mike protested. El giggled a bit and shoved Mike playfully before reluctantly joining Nancy at the little table and sitting down to work. Mike made himself comfortable on the couch next to the police chief, casting him a somewhat nervous glance. Hopper hadn't said anything since the two Wheeler kids entered, but he did set down his book to look over at Mike. Hopper had a very well developed sensor for nervous energy, and Mike was radiating it. Maybe he should have given the kid a break, but, well…Hopper wasn't that kind of guy. He also liked scaring the kid, just a little bit. It was entertaining.

"So kid," he said, groaning slightly as he pulled himself to his feet, "I'm gonna bring in a little more firewood from the back. Why don't you give me a hand?"

"Wh-what?" Mike didn't really want to be _alone_ with the chief. Not after he'd caught him kissing El outside the school the other night.

"It won't take long. Come help an old man out, yeah?" Hopper shrugged a jacket on over his flannel and gestured for Mike to follow. Reluctantly, the dark-haired teenager rose to his feet and followed him out, shoving his hands in his pockets as Hopper led him around to the back of the cabin.

"So is this the part where you ask me what my _intentions_ are, or something?" Mike asked in annoyance. He was still understandably bitter with the cop for letting him think that Eleven was dead for an entire year, and he saw right through the little "firewood" charade. That didn't stop Hopper from taking several logs off the top of the stack and piling them in Mike's arms. The boy's arms dropped under the sudden weight and he grumbled, readjusting his grip.

"Nah, I know your intentions are good, kid," Hopper muttered. "I just want to talk to you about El."

"What about El?" Mike (wrongly) believed that he knew tons more about El than the police chief did, and this whole conversation seemed like an embarrassing waste of time. The older man sighed and rubbed his forehead. Maybe he should have planned out what he was going to say.

"I just want to make sure you know what you're getting into," he said finally. "She's crazy about you, you have no idea." That comment actually got a little smile of out Mike.

"Really?"

"Yeah, really. And you're really too young to be getting into all this…dating stuff, if you ask me, but God knows I can't stop it. So what you need to know is if she _ever_ comes home crying, or…hell, kid. You hurt her, you answer to me. If she hasn't already killed you," he added wryly. The chief picked up his own armful of logs and began trudging back to the front door. "She's been through a lot as it is, we don't need to add boy drama to the list."

Mike pressed his lips into a thin line, clumsily following after him. "I'm not going to hurt her," she said hotly. "I won't, I promise." Mike didn't want to see El upset any more than Hopper did.

"Well then, I'd suggest you define this little relationship of yours," Hopper replied gruffly. He couldn't believe he was saying that, actually recommending that Mike make it official with El. But the fact of the matter was that El didn't know what was going on. Hopper knew from experience that a lack of clarity when it came to Eleven led to massive misunderstandings, which then led to her getting hurt and angry and blowing out all the windows. If they didn't figure out what was going on pretty soon, then El was going to get hurt. Mike may not think so, but Hopper knew just a little bit about his daughter and could anticipate how her mind worked. Not to mention the fact that her emotions seemed entirely unstable when it came to Mike.

Mike stopped in his tracks, dark eyes wide. _"What?"_

"If you want to be her boyfriend, cut the bullshit and be her damn boyfriend," Hopper rephrased, not stopping to look back at him. "And if you're not interested in that, I'd better not seen any more kissing. That's all." Flabbergasted, all Mike could do was stand and stare as the surly police chief went back inside. That wasn't fair! Yes, he wanted El to be his girlfriend, officially, but he didn't want to ask her _today!_ He hadn't mentally prepared for this. And Nancy was here, he couldn't ask her in front of Nancy. Come to think of it, maybe Nancy could give him some advice on what to say...no, that was embarrassing. Did El even know what an official relationship was? What if she said no? This was something that Mike had wanted for a long time, but the thought of actually going through with it was terrifying.

A thousand thoughts swam through his head until he no longer knew what he thought. When he finally made it back inside his face was red from the cold- at least, that was what he told himself. He stomped the snow off of his boots and made his way over to the fireplace. El glanced up when he came back in, her lips turning up in a smile, but Mike was careful not to glance in her direction lest he give himself away.

Mike sulked on the couch and pulled out his homework, but he was unable to concentrate on it. Eleven, his girlfriend. The thought filled him with giddy excitement, but it also terrified him. What if El didn't want to be his girlfriend? Of course, his friends always acted like she already was, but that wasn't true. He had to ask her first, it had to be official. Mike knew that from listening to complaints from Nancy. But Mike didn't see anything wrong with just liking each other for a while…why did he have to take that extra step?

Then again, they had already liked each other for a while. Over a year, to be exact. And the fact that they hadn't seen each other for most of that year made it even more legitimate in Mike's head. If they liked each other that much- and Mike was convinced that he loved her- then what was the point in causing any confusion?

The teenager spent the next hour furiously scribbling his math homework, doing the problems without hardly thinking about them as he tried to talk himself out of what he was going to do. But all of his efforts were in vain; he wanted that kind of relationship with El, and there was no good reason for them not to pursue it. Was there? Mike couldn't find it if there was. And if he had any questions on how to be a good boyfriend then he could ask Nancy. Or Steve. Dustin acted like Steve had a lot of great advice on that kind of thing. Besides, he knew the basics: bring her roses on Valentine's Day, plan nice things to do together one on one, and…well, continue doing what they were already doing. All it was was giving a name to what they already had.

It was around six when Nancy and El finished up schoolwork for the day, and Hopper had just returned to the house with a pizza after realizing that he'd have to feed the Wheeler kids and didn't have enough food in the house. That was fine; everyone loved pizza, and they gathered in the living area and watched the evening news while they ate. Almost automatically, El sat down near to Mike and leaned against him while she nibbled at her pizza, watching the man on the screen tell them what the weather was going to be like tomorrow.

Cold. It was always cold. But Mike was warm. Smiling at that thought, El finished her pizza and put the plate on the coffee table. She scooted closer to Mike and leaned her head on his shoulder, amazed again at how real he was. She couldn't do this in the void.

The other three finished their dinner as well, after which Nancy returned to the kitchen to start on her own homework and Hopper went to his room to read a while longer. Mike presented his selection of movies to El, not as excited about them as he might have been because he was so nervous.

"This one," El declared, pointing to _Ghostbusters._ She knew that he loved it because that was his Halloween costume, and El liked most movies she saw so she didn't care all that much. Mike smiled at her choice and inserted the tape into the VCR before returning to the couch and sitting next to her. He sat several inches away, though, and a dissatisfied El scooted nearer.

To her dismay, Mike moved farther down the couch, his eyes glued to the TV. Eleven stubbornly moved closer again, and when Mike started to move to the end of the couch El reached out to grab his wrist. "Mike," she said softly, looking at him. He knew her well enough to know she was asking him what was wrong. She almost looked _sad._ Ah, goddamnit.

Mike retracted his hand and rubbed his palms on his jeans. His heart was racing, and he already felt flushed. El was silently taking note of all these things, but she said nothing as she waited for him to speak. The opening credits of the movie were rolling along with the iconic song, but neither one of the teenagers were paying attention.

After what felt like an eternity, Mike blurted it out. "Do you want to be boyfriend and girlfriend?" In the kitchen Nancy dropped her pencil on the floor, her head snapping up. Had she just heard that right?

El's reaction was harder to read. She tilted her head and crawled closer, gazing into his dark brown eyes. "Boyfriend and girlfriend?" she repeated, pronouncing the words carefully. "You are my friend and you are a boy, and I am your friend-"

"No, El," Mike said quickly, growing redder by the second. "That's not what I mean. Sometimes two words put together mean different things."

"Oh." El had learned about this concept from Nancy. "Compounds."

"Yes, exactly," Mike confirmed. "And boyfriend and girlfriend mean something different. We're already friends but it means we'd be…a different kind of friends. Like, a romantic friend. Just us. Do you…do you want that?" The word "romantic" made him flush even more, and Nancy was struggling to keep quiet behind them. Honestly, Mike had forgotten she was there.

Even though El had never heard the words boyfriend or girlfriend before, she knew what romance was. Romantic movies were her favorite, and her heart raced with excitement at the thought of having that kind of relationship with Mike. They kind of already did, but El hadn't dared to put the idea of romance and her relationship with Mike together just yet. She blinked, sitting up straighter and nodding as she tried to keep from smiling too big.

"Yes. I want that," she replied. Mike stuttered awkwardly, flooded with happiness and relief.

"Well…great," he said, smiling weakly. His entire body seemed to deflate as the tension disappeared. Suddenly he was exhausted; that had taken a lot of out of him. "Cool."

"Cool," El repeated. She was quiet for a minute before asking, "What do we do different?"

"Huh?"

"What do we do different, as boyfriend and girlfriend?"

"Oh, um…" Mike stammered. "Nothing, really. We don't do anything different, we just…get to keep doing what we have been doing. And you can call me boyfriend if you…if you want." The blush returned, and Mike cursed himself. Why did he have to be so damn awkward? Maybe he did need advice from Steve.

El never seemed to notice his awkwardness, though. She never laughed at him for it or made him feel bad, she just smiled that sweet little smile of hers.

"I like what we've been doing," she told him. El didn't want that to change. Relentless in her pursuit, she proceeded to adjust her position on the couch so that she was right next to him, leaning on his shoulder with her face turned towards the television. "Boyfriend."

"Yeah." Mike turned his eyes back to the TV, but his only thoughts were of the girl next to him. His girlfriend. And not a silly, superficial rite of passage girlfriend either. A real one, that he actually liked. Contented, Mike leaned his head against the top of hers, his cheek coming into contact with her soft curls. Neither of them were going to be able to focus on the movie.

In the kitchen, Nancy opened her mouth to say something before deciding against it and returning to her work, a tiny smile on her face. In the other room Hopper was sitting in his chair, staring at his book but doing more eavesdropping than reading. Well, that was that. His daughter had a boyfriend. And as hard as that was to accept, at least it was Mike Wheeler.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading everyone, I hope you enjoyed it! The general consensus seems to be that skipping to high school is too big of a jump, so I'll plug in a few more chapters before we get there. Thanks to everyone who gave input/suggestions!**

 **And as always, thanks for your continued support and encouragement! I'm heading into my exam season so it might be a bit before I can update, but I will as soon as I can. -Ava**


	8. Out Loud

After a few weeks, El had discovered that being boyfriend and girlfriend didn't quite mean what she thought it had. Mike had used the world "romance," and for the girl who associated that word with the dramatic Audrey Hepburn movies she liked and soap operas, she had been half expecting Mike to sweep her off her feet like she was a princess. But even if that was what it meant to be in a romantic relationship, that wasn't Mike. He was awkward (not that El wasn't ten times more awkward) and sweet about it…just himself. And maybe that was better, because El didn't want him to change. What they had was perfect, and she finally understood that him being her boyfriend was really just giving a name to what he already was.

To El, their relationship stayed normal. El was excited by it all because it gave her the perfect excuse to be more affectionate without worrying about Hopper yelling at them. It still happened occasionally, usually in the form of, "Hands off my girl, Wheeler!" when he came home from work and found them cuddling in front of the TV on the weekends. That scared Mike quite a bit, which El thought was funny. She knew now that Hopper was nothing but a big teddy bear on the inside and that even though he could be harsh and demanding, at the end of the day he cared more than anyone. The blue bracelet that remained on her wrist was a constant reminder of that.

To Mike, everything felt different. He felt like he was under a lot of pressure to be the best boyfriend ever even though El didn't know what a good boyfriend was supposed to do…and really, Mike didn't either. She wasn't allowed to go out so he couldn't take her on dates (which probably would have been to the arcade) and he didn't have money to buy her presents with or anything like that. All he could really do was make a point to spend time with her after school whenever he could and watch those stupid soaps with her. It would be painful except for the fact she was adorable whenever she tried to repeat the words. Every once in a while, though, he'd pick out a movie that he liked and she was always more than happy to watch whatever he chose. El liked things that made Mike happy because she liked _seeing_ Mike happy, and she spent more time watching his face for reactions to special effects than she did actually watching the movies.

Christmas came and went, as did New Year's. El was learning more and more each day thanks to Nancy's tutoring and Hopper was starting to become hopeful that she would actually be able to keep up in high school. It was too soon to tell and there was a long ways to go, but it was still encouraging for him to see. The holiday season was coming to an end, which meant it was really time to buckle down and get to work. The end of El's isolation from the rest of the world was in sight, which made the police chief feel both overjoyed for the teenage girl and deathly afraid for her at the same time. He was tough on her, but it was all out of love. He wanted her to be as well-prepared for the "normal" world as she could be.

But there was one holiday that Hopper had conveniently forgotten about.

The phone call came the first week in February, early in the morning while El was still asleep. Hopper was about to leave for work and let out a groan, anticipating that the call was from Flo to let him know about some emergency he needed to tend to right away. It was fine, but Hopper was not a morning person and he'd much prefer easing his way into the day.

When he picked up the phone, however, it was not Flo on the other end. "Hello?"

"Chief?" Hopper resisted the urge to groan again at the sound of Mike Wheeler's voice. He couldn't deal with this kid at seven in the morning.

"What is it, kid?" he asked, reaching for his mug and taking a sip of coffee.

"Well I was just…I was just wondering, see, I thought maybe I could-"

"Spit it out, kid," Hopper said impatiently.

"I want to take El out for Valentine's day. Next weekend," Mike blurted out. Hopper nearly spit out his coffee.

"You _what?"_

"Valentine's Day. I want to do something with El." Hopper leaned against the wall and sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"Kid. You know the rules."

"Well, yeah, but you made an exception for the Snow Ball. Can't you make another one? Just this once?"

 _"Just this once_ my ass," Hopper retorted. "It's a slippery slope, Wheeler. Just this once turns into once a week, once a week turns into every day. It's just too dangerous with all that lab shit going down, alright?" Even if he did let Mike take Eleven out, the protective father would be following closely behind. Not because he didn't trust Mike or thought they'd take things too far, but because if they turned a corner and ran into some lab worker looking for El, he needed to know about it. He needed to be able to protect her from that possibility. And maybe he was overly paranoid, but it had only been a couple months since he'd adopted her and Dr. Owens had recommended lying low for at least a year. Lying low didn't have to mean keeping her locked up in the cabin for the full year, but it did mean taking things slow. Taking risks, especially this early, was stupid.

On the other end, the teenage boy was silent. Hopper was fully aware that he'd just shot down whatever sweet idea he had for El, and even though he wasn't going to change his mind it did make him feel bad. Hopper didn't know Mike all that well, but he did know that the boy wasn't the type to show up with chocolates in a heart-shaped box and call it a day. All he ever wanted was to make El happy, and that was really all Hopper wanted too. How could he say no?

"Look, kid, maybe we can come up with a compromise," he suggested wearily. "When is, uh…when is Valentine's Day?" It had been so long since he'd actually celebrated it.

"The fourteenth," Mike replied. "It's a Saturday."

"Saturday…" He peered over the calendar hanging on the wall, identifying the day. He wasn't working. "How about this. You can come over on Saturday, and I'll…" he trailed off, hesitating for a moment, "I'll go run some errands in town for an hour or two. On the condition that the bedroom door stays shut and you stay inside."

"Deal," Mike agreed. A little bit of alone time with her was all he needed. He hadn't come up with an extravagant plan, but he just wanted a designated time to be with her without the prying eyes of Hopper or Nancy or the rest of the boys. He had something to tell her, something he needed to get off his chest, and he wanted to do it right.

* * *

Finally, that Saturday arrived. Mike was a little nervous, but the full effect didn't set in until he was actually walking up to the cabin. He'd decided to be a little cliché and had gotten her a tiny bouquet of roses with some money Nancy willingly lent him. They were tied together with a red ribbon and a small tag where he'd simply written:

 _To El,_

 _Happy Valentine's Day_

 _From Mike_

His handwriting wasn't the greatest, but hopefully she'd be able to read it.

El had no idea that he was coming; Hopper had forgotten to mention it. So when she heard the secret knock and knew it couldn't possibly be the police chief, she opened the door with her mind as she turned around to see who it was. Nancy didn't usually come on Saturdays, but it wasn't Nancy.

"Mike!" She beamed at him, too transfixed on his face to notice the roses he was holding. "Why are you here?" Bashfully, Mike stepped inside and El closed the door behind him, getting up from her position on the couch.

"Happy Valentine's Day, El." He held out the flowers to her. The girl turned bright red as she accepted the gift. She'd been seeing advertisements for Valentine's Day on TV for weeks and seen plenty of men give women flowers on TV, but she had no idea that day was today. She didn't keep track of the days anymore...but flowers? Now _this_ was like the movies.

"Today is Valentine's Day?" She held the bouquet of roses to her nose and took a whiff before reading the tag.

"Um, yeah," Mike said awkwardly. Suddenly, El had a realization.

"Oh no. I didn't know, I didn't get you anything." She should have known this was Valentine's Day, and she should have known to do something for her _boyfriend,_ of all people. If nothing else, the TV advertisements should have clued her in...but she was so used to tuning out to those. Mike was quick to put her fears at ease.

"It's okay, El," he said with a sweet smile. He didn't mind, really. All he wanted was to spend time with her. "Don't worry about it. I wanted to go do something, but the Chief said it was too dangerous. He said I could come by and see you for a while, though." It had been a busy week and Mike hadn't been able to come see her nearly as often as he would have liked, or as often as El would have liked.

Right on cue, Hopper appeared in his bedroom doorway. He was quiet at first when he noticed the Wheeler boy, then he eyed the roses and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. _Shit._

"Mike's here for Valentine's Day," El announced, turning to look at him after hearing his footsteps. "You didn't tell me."

"I forgot, kid, I'm sorry," Hopper admitted. It had been a busy week for him, too. Mike looked annoyed and worried that the man might not make good on his promise, but thankfully Hopper was a man of his word. He picked up his wallet from the kitchen counter and slipped it into his pocket before grabbing his winter coat and shrugging it over his shoulders. He'd promised Mike he'd run some errands, so run some errands he would. Mike still hadn't entirely forgiven him for keeping Eleven a secret for so long.

"Alright, then. I'm going to run to the store and pick up some groceries," he muttered. He eyed the two kids, El with her bouquet of roses, and shook his head disapprovingly. Why had he agreed to this again? Mike was a good kid and he wasn't worried about them doing anything stupid with each other, but now that it was actually happening he realized the idea of these two teenagers alone in his house maybe wasn't the best idea. "Can I trust you not to be stupid while I'm gone?" The question was directed at both of them, his expression making it clear that he wasn't messing around.

El couldn't believe it. This might actually be her first opportunity to be alone with Mike in over a _year._ They couldn't screw this up. She returned Hopper's stare and nodded seriously. "Promise," she said.

"Promise," Mike echoed. Hopper pressed his lips together into a thin line and regarded the two of them carefully. He didn't like it, but…it was possible he was just being selfish. An hour or so together for popcorn and a movie wasn't going to hurt anyone.

"Alright. No going outside under any circumstances, understand? And the bedroom door stays closed, like we agreed. When is Nancy coming to pick you up?"

"At five."

"I'll be back by then. Be good." Hopper tucked his arm around Eleven and pressed a kiss on top of her curls, ruffling them up before stalking out the door. El made sure all the locks were secure before turning her attention to Mike. Alone at last.

"Thank you," she said softly, holding the flowers to her nose again to hide her smile. "For the flowers."

"Huh? Oh yeah, it's no problem," Mike replied awkwardly. "Want to put them in some water and then we can play a game or something?"

"Okay." El didn't know to cut the stems off of flowers and she probably wouldn't have bothered even if she had, but she managed to find a vase, fill it with water, and lovingly arrange the roses in it. She tied the ribbon with the tag around the vase in a clumsy bow and thought the whole set-up looked beautiful. Mike thought it was nice, too.

With the flowers settled, the young couple made their way to the couch, their favorite place. Mike sat near the end and El curled up against him, watching whatever was on TV. As usual, neither of them were really watching.

"Mike?" El asked, lifting her head up.

"Yeah?"

"What do boyfriends and girlfriends usually do on Valentine's Day?" The teenage boy flushed at her question.

"I guess…I don't know, really. I've never had a girlfriend on Valentine's day before, so-" Before he could finish, he was interrupted by El reaching up and pressing her lips gently against his. She only lingered there for a second, but it was nearly enough to send the boy into a state of shock. They hadn't kissed since the Snow Ball, and no matter how many times he imagined it it was never anywhere near the real thing.

"That?" El asked shyly. Mike managed an awkward, dazed smile that she found entirely adorable.

"Uh…yeah," he replied. "I guess that's okay." He leaned over and gave her a peck on the cheek in return, even though he understood now that that wasn't nearly as exciting. She smiled, leaning her head back on his shoulder. He took a deep breath, going over for the thousandth time exactly what he was going to say.

"You wanted to play a game?" she asked.

"Well, yes, maybe in a minute." Mike felt his stomach twist with anxiety at the thought of what he was about to do. But he had to do it, he just _had_ to. So before he could talk himself out of it, he turned to face her and took both of her hands in his.

"El," he said seriously, looking into her eyes. "I…well, there's something I wanted to do first. Something I wanted to tell you."

"Yes?" El smiled, looking at him expectantly. God, she was adorable. Mike's heart melted and his perfected script went down the drain.

"I want you to know that you don't have to say it back," he began. "I won't be mad. I just want to tell you because…well, I don't know if anybody's ever told you before. And everybody needs to be told at some point so I thought I might as well do it-"

"Mike," El cut him off again. She was still smiling, but he knew she was telling him to get on with it.

"Right, sorry. I just wanted to tell you that I…I love you, El." The words finally out, Mike sat back and took a deep breath. _There._ He did it, but it felt like he'd just run a marathon.

At first, the expression on El's face was unreadable. She sat back as well, brown eyes wide. Speechless, her lips parted in shock. For a moment Mike panicked. Shit, did El even know what that meant? Had he just made a huge mistake? When she continued not to say anything, Mike bit his lip and decided to try and figure out what she was feeling.

"Are you okay?" he asked gently. It took her a second, but she came around.

"Yes," she said finally, closing her eyes and nodding. "I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay." Mike scooted a bit closer and looked into her eyes. "You're sure you're okay? You promise?" She nodded again, and Mike began to develop a hunch about why she'd been so taken aback. "Has anybody ever told you they love you before?" he asked her. El looked down at her lap and shook her head. She understood that she was loved- she knew she was loved by her friends and especially by Hopper. The blue bracelet she still hadn't taken off was proof of that. But she'd never heard those words before, not directed at her. Not out loud.

"No," she admitted.

"Well, now they have." Knowing that, Mike couldn't have been happier to have told her. What kind of boyfriend was he if he let his girlfriend walk around never having been told she was loved? _"I_ love you, so much. And I know everyone else does too." Once again, a smile came across El's face. She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tight. He returned her tug gladly, pouring all the love he felt for her into the embrace.

"I love you too, Mike."

That was the best Valentine's Day gift she could have given him.

* * *

 **Sorry for the long wait, guys! I hope you all liked this chapter, let me know what you think! Shout out to my-secret-garden, I wasn't able to respond to you personally but your review truly warmed my heart!**

 **Also, shameless self-promo: Another user, wordsfromthefeatherquill and I have teamed up on another Stranger Things fic! It's called "Stranger Things 3: Countdown" on our joint account 2Strangers. It's also favorited on my profile! The first chapter is up and it's going to be an epic story, so if you're still looking for your Stranger Things fix please consider checking it out!**

 **As always, thank you for reading!**

 **-Ava**


	9. Defective Superpower

Mike hadn't meant to tell his parents about his girlfriend, and he managed to keep it a secret for several months. It wasn't until the summer when it finally slipped out.

"Mom, I just don't want to go swimming today, alright?" Mike declared, irritated. His mom had decided this week that Saturday they were all going to take a family trip to the lake. She'd rented a boat, made Nancy take the day off work, dragged Ted out of his recliner and packed floaties for Holly, never anticipating that her son might have plans.

"Well, why not?" Karen asked, equally annoyed. "You used to love going to the lake, Michael. I thought it would be nice for us all to spend some time to-"

"It _would,_ Mom, but I just…I just can't today, okay? I have plans. If you would have scheduled this, like, two weeks ago-"

"You've had these plans for two weeks and I'm just now hearing about it? I think that your friends will forgive you just this once-"

"No! No, not with them. It's just…I…ugh, _Nancy!"_ Mike stormed into the other room, frustrated that he had to rely on his older sister for help but she was the only one who understood how hard it was to hide El from their mom. Nancy had been going to the cabin almost every day since December, and Mike didn't know how she could stand the questions or keep up with the lies. It was exhausting.

"What?" came Nancy's sharp reply. She and Mike were closer now after everything they'd gone through together, but he was still her little brother and he still drove her insane. She peered around the corner, dressed in her blue floral bathing suit and cover up.

"Tell Mom that I can't go to the lake today," Mike demanded. Karen looked between her two children incredulously.

"Nancy? You know about this?" Nancy pursed her lips and glanced towards Mike, who was regarding her with a pleading expression. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair before crossing her arms across her chest and leaning against the wall.

"He can't go, Mom," she confirmed simply. Karen lifted her hands in exasperation.

"Will someone explain to me what's going on?" she cried. Then to Mike, "You're not going _anywhere_ unless I know _exactly_ where and who you're going to be with."

Mike gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, trying hard to keep his mouth shut. "I'm going to help my friend with something," he managed.

 _"Who?"_

"Her…her name is El…"

"Mike," Nancy said warningly. Karen looked back at her daughter and narrowed her eyes before turning back to the boy.

"Who is El?" she asked. If looks could kill, Mike's certainly would have.

"Chief Hopper's daughter." The words were almost physically painful for him to say.

"Jim Hopper doesn't have a daughter."

"He does," Mike argued, desperately wishing that he didn't have to. Hopefully the Chief wouldn't kill him, but surely it was okay by now. At least he'd managed to keep it a secret until today. "He does, and…"

"And _what,_ Michael?" He took a deep breath. He didn't see how he could get out of this without coming clean. Once his mom got a hint of news, she wouldn't stop until the knew all the details. Which was part of the reason why this was so scary.

"And she's my girlfriend," he admitted, much to Nancy's (and Karen's) horror. "She's redecorating her room today and I promised I'd help." By redecorating he meant just straight up decorating; Hopper and El were moving out of the cabin today, back into the trailer home overlooking part of the lake. It was all in preparation for her to start at the high school in a month. Hop figured that she'd be out in public every day, so there wasn't any sense in extending his commute by fifteen minutes to keep her in the cabin when he was still paying his mortgage for the other place. El was finally going to have a permanent bedroom, one that she could completely personalize and make her own. And she'd asked _Mike_ to help. It was important to her, and he wasn't going to miss it because his mom was still trying to convince herself that their family was close.

There was a moment where Karen didn't know what to say. A thousand thoughts flooded her head all at once- frustration that Mike hadn't told her, of course, but also…Mike had a girlfriend? Sweet Mike, her little boy that hardly ever talked to girls, was growing up and this was just one more sobering reminder. She looked from Mike to Nancy as if she didn't know who they were anymore, finally settling on her daughter.

"You knew about this?" Nancy shrugged sheepishly.

"She's homeschooled," the girl explained. "I've been helping her study and Mike…comes along sometimes. She's very sweet, mom."

"Well, then." Karen didn't seem to know what to think. "I'm sure she's lovely, Michael, but I don't appreciate you hiding it from me! Exactly how long has this been going on?"

"January," Mike mumbled.

"You've known her since January?"

"N-no," he said, growing red with embarrassment. "She's been my girlfriend since January." God, Hopper _was_ going to kill him. It was one thing to let the public know about El, let them know that Jim Hopper had a daughter now. Everyone was going to find out. But he was well aware of how dangerous _his_ parents were, specifically. El was the girl who had hidden in their basement for a week, the girl they were told was incredibly dangerous and had manipulated their son. El's story would have to get past his parents and if it did then they'd be mostly in the clear, but Mike was terrified of what would happen if it didn't stick the way they were all hoping it would.

"Oh my god," Karen sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I can't believe you would hide this from us, honey. For so long? Don't you know you can talk to me?"

"There was nothing to talk about!" Mike insisted. Just then, Ted Wheeler wandered into the hallway, a piece of toast in hand.

"What's all this fuss?" he drawled, taking a bite.

"Our son has a secret girlfriend," Karen snipped. "Since _January."_

"Well, how about that," Ted replied, raising his eyebrows at Mike slightly. Karen looked at her husband indignantly.

"You aren't going to say anything?"

"Well, no, it's just…I'm happy for you, son. Was beginning to think it might not ever happen." At that, both Karen and Mike rolled their eyes.

"Well, I'd like to meet her," Karen decided, grabbing the car keys. "I'm driving you over, and she's invited to dinner." Karen was sure that whoever El was, she was just as sweet as Nancy said. The Mike she knew wasn't about to start _dating_ just anyone. But that brought up another point; if they'd been dating since January, that was…seven months! Most first relationships lasted weeks, and Karen's first "serious" relationship had been capped at four. Mike was fourteen, and he'd been seeing this girl for seven months. That fact combined with what she knew about her son equaled a very significant relationship in her son's life, one that she'd been completely cut out of.

"Mom!" Mike complained. Nancy shifted her weight nervously in the background. It could be worse, but it was still bad.

"Yeah Mom, really, she's super shy-"

"We'll make her feel welcome," Karen declared with a smile. "And she already knows you two, right? We're going to the lake when I get back, so be ready," she added, mostly to Ted. Mike would almost rather die than have his mom drive him to Hopper's, but he realized he had to choose his fights wisely and he wasn't going to win this one. Reluctantly, he turned around and stomped to the car.

The ride to Hopper's trailer was painful, but Mike was glad that they would actually be there instead of at the cabin. The cabin was to stay top secret, to be used in case there was an emergency. Like, for example, if his parents found out that their son was dating the dangerous girl who'd lived in their basement for a week. When they arrived Hopper was outside taking some boxes in from his truck, because it wasn't just redecorating day- it was move-in day. When he saw Mrs. Wheeler's car instead of Mike's bicycle his eyes widened, and he set the boxes down right where he was before going up to the car to figure out what was going on.

"Karen," he said, with all the pleasantness he could muster. _He had nothing to hide, he had nothing to hide…_ "It's good to see you."

"You, too, Jim," Karen responded with a smile. She stepped out of the car, much to Mike's annoyance, and got straight to the point. "I just learned our children are seeing each other?"

"Uh…" Hop's gaze transferred from Karen to her son, the teenager who had just turned fourteen. He hadn't been expecting that. _Nothing to hide…_ "That they are," he confirmed. "You never told your mother?" he asked Mike, pretended to be offended at the information. Mike responded with an angry glare.

"I didn't realize you had a daughter, Jim," Karen added. "How old is she?"

"Same as your boy, fourteen…she's my sister's, actually, but she's not well and her dad's not around so custody was transferred." He shrugged, not wanting to say too much more than that but knowing that since it was Karen, he'd have to say something. Everyone knew everyone in Hawkins, and everyone knew that he didn't have a kid. He was going to have a lot of explaining to do with a lot of people.

"Oh," Karen said with a nod. "Well, I'm very sorry to hear about your sister. I hope she's doing better." Hopper nodded noncommittally, and Karen decided to move on. "Anyways," she said, "I thought it would be nice to have El over for dinner tonight, if she'd like to. Where is she?" She peered over the tall man's shoulders at the trailer and Hopper sighed, turning back towards the house.

"Hey, kid!" he shouted. "Come on out for a second, would ya?" Moments later El appeared at the door and bounced down the stairs, wearing a pair of high-waisted denim shorts and a crop top, with another tank underneath. She had gotten a bit taller and her hair was longer now, no longer the messy mop of curls. It had extended down to almost touch her shoulders and she frequently wore it up in a half-ponytail to keep it out of her face. El loved her longer hair, but after twelve years of having a shaved head it was hard to get used to unruly curls blowing in her face all the time. She wasn't sure what Hopper wanted but she stopped suddenly upon seeing Mrs. Wheeler there, brown eyes wide with terror. Oh, no.

"It's okay, El," Mike called, not wanting her to worry. He knew why she would be. "It's okay." Reassured slightly, El began to approach the group, trying her best to smile. Hopper put his hand on her shoulder protectively and looked up at Karen.

"This is El. Eleanor," he clarified. "But that's a mouthful, so."

"It's so nice to finally meet you, El," Karen said kindly, smiling at the girl. "I'm Karen, Mike's mom."

"Hi," El said shyly. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to say, how much Mrs. Wheeler knew. "Nice to meet you," she echoed.

"Mrs. Wheeler thought it would be nice if you went over for dinner tonight," Hopper said, glancing down at El to see her reaction. "What do you think about that?" If she was honest, that sounded absolutely terrifying. Dinner with Mike's family? She took turns looking at everyone for guidance, her eyes landing on Mike. He shrugged, not seeming to know what to do, but El could certainly feel the pressure from Mrs. Wheeler to say yes.

"Okay," she reluctantly agreed. "Thank you." Karen smiled broadly and nodded.

"Perfect! I'll pick you both up close to dinner time, alright? Have fun redecorating." She wrapped her arm around Mike and kissed the top of his head (which she almost couldn't reach anymore). Mike grumbled in embarrassment and shoved her away.

"Yeah, okay. Bye, Mom," Mike said, waving as she got back into the car. When she was gone El turned to Mike, her eyes still wide.

"What happened?" she hissed, keeping her voice low as if she had to whisper. "Dinner?" El had dreamed of the day she would finally be allowed back into Mike's house, to see the fort she could only see in the void and watch movies in his basement where they'd just put a second TV. But so suddenly, and under the pressure of meeting his parents? El knew from movies that meeting your boyfriend's parents was a very big deal, and you had to impress them. El didn't know how to impress people except with her powers, and the Wheelers would be the first people she encountered in her new life who didn't know the truth about her.

"I'm sorry," Mike groaned. "She was grilling me and I snapped. It's really a minor miracle I've kept you a secret for this long." As if that made it any better.

"Good thing you did- a day earlier and I'd be drop-kicking your ass to China," Hopper grumbled. "Don't use your powers, stick to the story, and you'll be fine," he told El. He wasn't thrilled about this whole thing, but he reminded himself it was bound to happen at some point, and it was a good test run for school. He couldn't be too hard on Mike for this one, because if El couldn't handle the Wheelers then high school was out of the question and that was a good thing to know. He trusted her not to do anything stupid, and Nancy and Mike to get her home if something started going wrong, but he'd be lying if he said it didn't make him nervous…Hop just knew he couldn't reveal that to El.

"But I don't know how to act," El responded, starting to panic. "I don't know what to say!"

"Just be yourself," Mike advised, turning to her and putting both of his hands on her shoulders. "Okay? Nothing bad is going to happen. I promise." El nodded and leaned in, wrapping her arms around his waist. Mike rubbed her back soothingly, lingering there for a moment before pulling away. "But let's not think about it now, okay? We've got all day."

All the same, that day flew by. Mike was fully aware that this was probably the only circumstance in which he would be allowed in El's bedroom, so he enjoyed every moment of it. While Hopper worked on the rest of the house they set up El's new room by arranging the furniture where she wanted, making her bed, unpacking all her clothes, hanging up her pictures and setting up her desk. Hopper played several records throughout the day and the music kept the mood light. He wanted to treat the kids to some of his dance moves, but El put a quick stopper in that one.

They took a break for lunch and sat out on the back deck for a bit when they were done with everything, reading. El was currently working her way through _The Chronicles of Narnia_ \- slowly, but enjoying every bit of it. Mike was great reading company, and he always had the patience to explain any new words she came across. El's vocabulary had expanded quite a bit and her speech patterns were becoming more normal, but there was still a lot to learn.

Around five, Mrs. Wheeler returned to take El and Mike back for dinner. El had changed into a blue sundress with a cardigan, which she hoped was more impressive, but she was still nervous. Incredibly so. To prevent Mrs. Wheeler from coming inside the kids met her at the car, but El was trying hard not to panic and squeezed Mike's hand the entire time. She didn't want to mess this up.

"So, how was decorating?" Karen asked as the kids slid into the back seat. The handholding did not go unnoticed.

"Good," El replied with a small smile. "Fun," she added, glancing at Mike. He smiled back a bit awkwardly.

"How was the lake, Mom?" Mike asked from the back, deciding to get a head start on keeping the conversation off the topic of El.

"Oh it was great, honey. Beautiful day. El, you're so lucky to live right by the lake. Do you swim often?"

"Not often," came her reply. In truth, El didn't know how to swim and she didn't really want to learn. Being submerged in water reminded her of the bath back in the lab, and the last thing she needed was a triggering flashback when she was trying to be normal. "But it's very nice," she agreed, not wanting to appear ungrateful.

"Hm. So you've been doing schoolwork with Nancy?"

"Yes. She's helping me get ready for high school."

"Oh, so you'll be starting at the high school this fall?"

"Yes."

"Well that's great! Don't you think, Michael?"

"Yeah." Mike looked over and beamed at El, proud of her. Starting at public school was a bigger deal than his mom knew. "Pretty cool." Mrs. Wheeler was finally quiet after that, keeping her eyes on the road as she drove the rest of the way home. El kept a tight grip on Mike's hand and leaned her head on his shoulder, watching the streetlights pass by and trying to ignore the fluttery feeling in her stomach.

It didn't work. They pulled up into the driveway and El felt like making a break for it, running all the way back to the trailer. Or better yet, the cabin. She was feeling two things at once; the desire to be Mike's nice, normal girlfriend who could come over for dinner but also the intense fear that his parents would find out who she was. If that happened, no more nice bedroom. No more high school, no going out at all. And worst of all, no more Mike.

He seemed to sense her anxiety and leaned over as his mom got out of the car. "You'll be fine," he promised. "I'm not gonna let anything bad happen, remember? Promise." After checking to make sure that his mom wasn't looking, Mike leaned over and put his hand on the side of her face, giving her a quick kiss on the lips. "I love you, and they will, too."

Mike really did believe that. He knew that his mom would love her, because there was nothing about El not to love. She was sweet and polite and adorable- she was exactly the kind of girl that his mom would want to take under her wing. And Mike was crazy about her, so he was sure that his mom would fuss over her like she was another daughter. As for his dad…Mike didn't think he'd pay much attention, to be honest. Like he'd said earlier, he'd probably just be satisfied that El was a girl. This moment was scary, but once they got past it he was convinced it would all be fine. "And just think," he added, "now you'll be able to come over to my house whenever you want. And we can hang out in the basement all day and no one will check on us. And we can eat pizza and watch movies and play games, without parents at all. Just like old times, except without danger. That sounds fun, right?"

It did sound fun, and just like that he'd managed to make her feel better. Not completely, but by a significant margin. "How do you do that?" El asked, genuinely in awe of him. Mike leaned over to open the car door, hopping out. El followed suit.

"Do what?" he asked.

"Always say the right thing." Mike smiled bashfully and glanced at his feet as they walked up to the door.

"Maybe that's my superpower," he suggested. "I just forgot how to use it this morning, I guess." El giggled and smiled back.

"Yes," she agreed. "Your superpower is defective." That was a word she'd heard frequently in the lab when she couldn't do what they wanted, but now she knew what it meant. Mike laughed and opened the door to the familiar smell of meatloaf, holding it open for his girlfriend.

"It's not defective," he argued lightly. El turned to face him, a coy smile on her face.

"Yes it is," she declared, leaning forward to kiss him again, briefly. "But I still love you." She stepped inside and left Mike grinning like an idiot before he finally followed her, closing the door. Six months later, he still wasn't tired of hearing her say that.

* * *

 **Hey all! Sorry again for the long wait, I think I've decided this fic is mostly for when I need to get these characters out of my system :P**

 **I had planned to have the whole dinner in this chapter but I had too much fun focusing in on Mike and I didn't want to make the chapter too long, so there will have to be a part two. But that's a good thing, because it means I know what the next chapter will be! This usually isn't the case, haha. Hope you enjoyed!**

 **Also again, go check out my and wordsfromthefeatherquill's collaboration fic, "Stranger Things 3: Countdown," favorited on my page! It has all the good stuff: Mileven/Lumax drama, Mom Steve, Dad Hop, BFF El/Will, and an amazing big picture plot. The third chapter is going up very, very soon!**

 **As always, thank you for spending your time reading my little story!**

 **-Ava**


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